The leader of the Russian spy network operating in Great Britain, who, according to the prosecutor's office, was conducting surveillance in the interests of the Kremlin, was sentenced on Monday by a London court to almost 11 years in prison, and his five accomplices - to a total of about 40 years. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
According to the publication, the convicted 47-year-old Orlin Russev received 10 years and 8 months in prison. In court, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage for Russia.
Three of the group were found guilty in March after a trial, while Russev, his deputy Bizer Dzhambazov (44 years old) and a third man, Ivan Stoyanov (33 years old), pleaded guilty last year.
Dzhambazov received 10 years and 2 months in prison, his former partner Katrin Ivanova (33 years old) - 9 years and 8 months.
Vanya Gaberova (30 years old) was sentenced to 8 years in prison, of which 1 year and 3 months, which she has already spent in custody, will be deducted.
Her former partner Tihomir Ivanchev (39 years old) received 8 years, and Stoyanov - 6 years and 4 months, minus the time already spent in custody.
Russev's guilt was proven after the police found thousands of messages between him and fugitive Jan Marsalek - the former top manager of Wirecard, who coordinated the actions of a group of Bulgarian citizens from abroad.
Judge Nicholas Hilliard stated that Russev's activities posed a serious threat to the national security of Great Britain.
Prosecutors said the group did not work directly for Russian intelligence and was primarily motivated by money.
The Russian Embassy in London did not comment on the case, although the Kremlin has always denied such espionage allegations.
Reference
Relations between Great Britain and Russia have deteriorated sharply to the level of the Cold War after the start of the war in Ukraine; Britain accuses Russia of trying to sow "chaos" in Europe.
Marsalek's lawyer in Germany – where he is wanted as the former chief operating officer of the bankrupt payment company Wirecard – previously declined to comment.
His whereabouts are unknown, but he is believed to be in Russia.
Industrial-scale espionage
Prosecutors said the spy network's activities posed a serious threat to Britain's national security, while police said the group operated on an "almost industrial scale".
One of their operations was a plan to intercept mobile communication signals at Patch Barracks, an American military base near Stuttgart, where Ukrainian troops were believed to be training in the use of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles.
The main focus of the case was on thousands of messages between Marsalek and Russev, which contained unfinished plans and jokes about Russian operations on British territory, including the 2018 poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal.
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In July 2022, Marsalek sent Russev a selfie in which he was wearing full military gear with the "Z" logo — a symbol of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The pair repeatedly mentioned the GRU (Russian military intelligence) and other special services, discussed the supply of drones to Russia and weapons to Cameroon, and admired Elon Musk.
Marsalek and Russev also discussed organizing an air evacuation from Kabul in 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan.
Recall
As UNN wrote earlier, a group of Bulgarians led surveillance of the American military base in Germany, where Ukrainian troops were trained. It was one of six espionage operations they carried out for Russia.
They acted under the leadership of Russev, who himself received instructions from Marsalek, who used the fictitious name Rupert Tich.