Five suspected Russian spies to be charged with conspiracy to conduct espionage
21 September 2023, 13:52 | Updated: 21 September 2023, 14:21
Five Bulgarian nationals suspected of spying for Russia will be charged with conspiracy to conduct espionage, the Crown Prosecution has announced.
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Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, Katrin Ivanova, 31, Ivan Stoyanov, 31, and Vanya Gaberova, 29, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 26.
Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said that the three men and two women "will be charged with conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state".
He said: “The CPS has authorised a charge of conspiracy to conduct espionage against three men and two women suspected of spying for Russia.
“Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, Katrin Ivanova, 31, Ivan Stoyanov, 31, and Vanya Gaberova, 29, will be charged with conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state between 30 August 2020 and 8 February 2023.
“Roussev, Dzhambazov, and Ivanova were previously charged on 11 February 2023 with possession of false identity documents with improper intention under section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010."
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The charges relate to suspected spying for Russia between August 30, 2020, and February 8, 2023. Roussev, Dzhambazov, and Ivanova were previously charged on February 11, 2023, with possession of false identity documents.
The five Bulgarians were arrested in February under the British Official Secrets Act following raids on properties in London and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.
MI5 allegedly passed the intelligence on to the Met Police.
