International relations Five Bulgarian citizens accused in the United Kingdom of spying for Russia

British prosecutors have charged five Bulgarian citizens living in the United Kingdom with spying for Russia before and during the Ukraine war.

Three men and two women, aged between 29 and 45, have been formally charged with “conspiring to obtain information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy country”, can be read in an official statement from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). ).

The five defendants have been identified as Orlin Roussev (45 years old), Biser Dzhambazov (41), Katrin Ivanova (31), Ivan Stoyanov (31) and Vanya Gaberova (29), for their activities that lasted between August 30, 2020 and February 8, 2023.

Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova had already been accused, at the time of their arrest last February, of falsifying documents, including passports from Spain and other European countries. The prosecutor’s office has not yet provided more details about the alleged espionage. The five accused will appear before the judge on September 26.

The three main defendants had been living in the UK for more than a decade, frequently changing jobs and living in rental houses outside London. Roussev was listed as a former adviser to Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry and founder of a now-dissolved artificial intelligence company, NewGecTech.

Dzhambazov was an ambulance driver and an English teacher for fellow Bulgarians. Ivanova worked as a laboratory assistant for a private company and offered to teach an “introduction to English values” class. The three came to work for the electoral commission to make it easier for Bulgarian immigrants to vote, according to The Guardian.

The second woman arrested, Vanya Gaberova, runs a beauty shop in Acton, west London, is a specialist in false eyelashes and has won several awards in her specialty in Bulgaria, the United Kingdom and Russia.

The five suspects were apparently using as a base a flat near the RAF military base in Northolt, frequently used by British ministers and foreign dignitaries while passing through the United Kingdom, according to The Daily Telegraph.