Three Bulgarians in London sentenced for espionage on behalf of Russia 8 March 2025
Kyiv • UNN
The court at Old Bailey found three Bulgarian citizens guilty of espionage activities on behalf of Russia. The group operated under the leadership of Yan Marsalek and was involved in surveillance of Christo Grozev and data theft.
Three Bulgarian citizens were found guilty of spying for Russia at the Old Bailey in London. The British police described the case as one of the largest espionage investigations in the UK in recent decades. This was reported by The Guardian, as reported by UNN.
Details
It is noted that after more than 32 hours of deliberation, the jury at the Old Bailey delivered a unanimous verdict against 33-year-old laboratory technician Katrin Ivanova, 30-year-old cosmetologist Vanya Gaberova, and 39-year-old artist and decorator Tihomir Ivanchev, who lived in London before their arrest.
According to the prosecution, the trio was part of a spy group that operated between 2020 and 2023 under the leadership of former chief operating officer of the payment system Wirecard, Jan Marsalek, who operated under the name Rupert Titz.
Marsalek oversaw the surveillance of investigative journalist Christo Grozev, who helped expose Russian spies in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. All three defendants participated in this operation.
Marsalek also ordered members of the group, including Ivanova, to steal the mobile phone numbers of Ukrainian soldiers believed to be undergoing training at American barracks in Stuttgart, Germany.
The spies also planned extortion, kidnapping, and murder along with stealing secrets and conducting disinformation campaigns and supplying military equipment to Russia and China.
All three were found guilty of conspiracy, contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, with the intent to commit an offense under Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. The maximum penalty for this is imprisonment for up to 14 years.
Of the three defendants, only Ivanchev was present in court. The two women attended via video link.
Ivanova was also found guilty of possessing forged passports in her apartment.
Recall
Counterintelligence uncovered three Russian agents who were gathering data on military facilities in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv regions. The spies were correcting missile strikes and tracking airfields, command posts, and repair plants.
