Alleged spy claims she was unaware target had exposed Russian links to Salisbury poisoning insisting she was misled

28 January 2025, 08:40 | Updated: 28 January 2025, 08:42

By EJ Ward

An alleged spy has told jurors she was unaware that a man she had been tasked with following across Europe was a "good person" who had uncovered Russian links to the Salisbury poison attack.

Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, are accused of being part of a group that conducted surveillance on opponents of the Russian state between 30 August 2020 and 8 February 2023.

Giving evidence in her defence, Ivanova claimed she had been misled by her partner, Biser Dzhambazov, 43, and Orlin Roussev, both of whom have pleaded guilty to spying for Russia.

During cross-examination on Monday, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC suggested Ivanova was a "good actress" who could "easily" lie to others. Ms Morgan questioned Ivanova's claim that she was kept in the dark by Dzhambazov and Roussev regarding their activities.

Read more: Russian spying ring 'plotted to kidnap and assassinate journalist' in 'honeytrap' scheme

Read more: 'We see you', UK warns Putin as Royal Navy submarine forces Russian spy ship out of British waters

Ms Morgan said: "This person you've been in a relationship with for 17 years, and this other person who paid the deposit on your house, who you considered to be a close friend—they used you for the best part of three years?

"You were all deceived?

"None of you knew this was all about Russia?"

One of the alleged targets was Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev, who had received recognition for his work uncovering Russian involvement in the 2018 Novichok attack in Salisbury, the court was told.

Ms Morgan argued that Mr Grozev would have been of particular interest to Russia, asking: "What was it about Mr Grozev you didn't like?

"Going to Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro, following this person around—why?"

Ivanova claimed she had been told by Dzhambazov that Mr Grozev was "corrupt" and that their surveillance aimed to expose him as a "hypocrite."

She told the court: "I was being told by Mr Dzhambazov... he was a hypocrite.

"The purpose of surveillance was to prove he was a hypocrite by following him."

Russia 'directly challenges Britain' as spy ship enters UK waters | LBC analysis

Ms Morgan argued that Ivanova, described as an "intelligent" woman, would have known from basic research that Mr Grozev investigated Russian authorities.

"One of the things he had investigated was the Salisbury attack in this country—you knew that, didn’t you? It's a disgraceful event," Ms Morgan said.

Ivanova denied this, claiming she only became more familiar with the Salisbury poison attack after her arrest.

"I wasn't interested in politics, Russian agents, Novichok," she told jurors.

The prosecutor pressed on, asserting: "Mr Dzhambazov was not sending you as a lone female off to Vienna with no idea why she was there or what she was really doing there.

"He wouldn't have done that to you."

Ms Morgan pointed out the high costs of the surveillance operation, suggesting Ivanova must have known Mr Grozev was "of interest to Russia" because "he was exposing Russia left, right and centre."

Ivanova replied: "I didn't know about all these things.

"I purely believed what I was told, and that was my mistake."

Ms Morgan suggested Mr Grozev was "a good person doing a good thing" and asked whether Ivanova had apologised to him for following him around Vienna. She then suggested that, as time went on, the sums of money involved in the operations increased.

Ms Morgan claimed the group was eventually offered £700,000 to "land" Russian dissident Kirill Kachur in Montenegro. Referring to messages about the operation, she said: "If you could capture him, you were told it didn't matter what happened to him in the process. You were told, as a team, you could get £700,000.

"At no stage did you say, 'What are we doing?' The message says, 'It doesn't matter if he gets killed in the process?'"

Ivanova claimed this message came only after they had finished searching for Mr Kachur.

All three defendants deny charges of conspiracy to spy between 30 August 2020 and 8 February 2023.

Ivanova has also pleaded not guilty to a second charge of possessing false identity documents with improper intention under section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010.

At the time of the alleged offences, Ivanova was living in Harrow, north-west London, Gaberova in Euston, north London, and Ivanchev in Acton, west London.