Three Bulgarians on trial in UK for spying for Russia, two admit offence

LONDON (Reuters) – Two men have admitted being Russian spies in Britain, a London court was told on Thursday at the start of the trial of three Bulgarians who are also accused of being part of the same spying network.

Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, deny a charge of conspiracy to spy, conspiring together and with others including a Russian agent using the alias Richard Ticz.

Ivanova also denies a charge of possessing false identity documents.

At the start of their trial at London’s Old Bailey court, prosecutor Alison Morgan said two other men, Orlin Roussev and Bizer Dzhambazov, had admitted being part of the spying conspiracy.

“Between 2020 and 2023, these defendants, together with a number of other people, spied for the benefit of Russia,” Morgan said.

“They all knew why they were being tasked to conduct their operations. Their activity was being undertaken for the direct or indirect benefit of Russia.”

Morgan said the group had carried out surveillance, used false identities, deployed advanced technologies and compiled detailed reports in return for significant sums of money.

The case comes as Britain’s relations with Russia have been at their most hostile in decades over Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine following reports British long-range missiles had been used inside Russian territory.

On Tuesday Russia expelled a British diplomat it accused of espionage, while in October the UK’s domestic spy chief accused Russian intelligence services of seeking to cause “mayhem”.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Kate Holton)

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