Six Bulgarian nationals facing years behind bars for part in Russian spy ring run from UK seaside guesthouse
7 May 2025, 06:05
Six Bulgarian nationals are facing years behind bars for their part in a Russian spy ring operated from a rundown UK seaside guesthouse.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Female “honeytrap” agents Katrin Ivanova, 33, and Vanya Gaberova, 30, and competitive swimmer Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were found guilty at the Old Bailey in March of spying on an “industrial scale”, putting lives and national security at risk.
They are due to face sentencing at the same court from Wednesday, alongside ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, his second-in-command Biser Dzhambazov, 44, and Ivan Stoyanov, 33, who admitted their roles.
They were directed by alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian businessman wanted by Interpol after the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard.
Marsalek acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and Roussev, who led the operation from a former guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
It is believed to be one of the “largest and most complex” enemy operations to be uncovered on UK soil.
The network engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations over three years in which spies were referred to as Minions – characters from animated film Despicable Me.
Roussev deployed the Minions with second-in-command Dzhambazov, who was in a love triangle with two of the team – his partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova, jurors heard.
They targeted people and places of interest to the Russian state, and discussed using “lashes queen” Gaberova as a honeytrap to snare a high-profile journalist, dropped 100 litres of pigs’ blood on the Kazakhstan embassy in London by drone, and kidnapped a man on UK soil.
Spyware was recovered from the seaside hotel, described by Roussev in messages as his “Indiana Jones garage” – including audiovisual spy devices hidden inside a rock, men’s ties, a Coke bottle and a Minions cuddly toy.
The defendants, who are in custody, face sentences of up to 14 years in jail for the activities in the UK, Austria, Spain, Germany and Montenegro.
