UK-based Russian spy ring linked to ‘highest echelons’ in Bulgaria, trial told
UK-based Russian spy ring linked to ‘highest echelons’ in Bulgaria, trial told
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A UK-based spy ring had connections in the “highest echelons” of the Bulgarian government, a court has heard. Katrin Ivanova, 33, and two others are accused of being part of a group of Bulgarians who carried out surveillance on places and people of interest to the Russian state.
Her partner Biser Dzhambazov, 43, from Harrow, north London, and Orlin Roussev, 46, from Great Yarmouth, have admitted being part of the three-year plot. Ivanova has claimed she was deceived, controlled and betrayed by Dzhambazov and had thought she was exposing “corruption” when she followed investigative journalist Christo Grozev around Europe.
Cross-examining on Wednesday, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC suggested Ivanova was the “corruption” and the spy ring’s “chief minion” whose partner had links to power in Bulgaria. The court heard how Ivanova, Dzhambazov and co-accused Vanya Gaberova had helped in the 2021 election when Bulgarian President Rumen Radev was elected.
Ivanova told jurors that someone at the Bulgarian Embassy in London had contacted her about helping to sign off votes at a polling station but she never shared with officials her concerns about corruption. Ms Morgan asked: “So thinking now and knowing you are a dishonest person, do you think you should have been signing off on that document on the number of votes cast in the Bulgarian election?.
“You are the corruption, aren’t you?”. The defendant denied it. Ms Morgan said: “You are a very educated, intelligent woman, Ms Ivanova, and this is your home country you care about so much. What was the name of the Bulgarian president in 2021?”.
