Six spies embedded in the UK who targeted journalists and dissidents of Vladimir Putin’s Russia with surveillance operations and ‘honeytrap’ stings have been jailed for a total of more than 50 years. Orlin Roussev was the leader of the espionage cell formed of Bulgarians nationals, directing operations for the Kremlin from his base in a former Great Yarmouth guesthouse. Roussev’s second in command was Biser Dzhambazov, a man embroiled in a complex love triangle with two female agents - Katrin Ivanova and Vanya Gaberova. The group, also including Ivan Stoyanov and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, collected information on Russian dissidents, tracked the movements of journalists who had investigated Putin’s regime, and they considered spraying pig’s blood over the Kazakhstan embassy in London in a fake protest plot. Overseeing the spying operation was Russian agent Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman turned spymaster wanted by Interpol over a £1.5 billion Wirecard fraud. Roussev, 47, used the alias ‘Jackie Chan’ in messages, while Dzhambazov, 43, used the aliases ‘Mad Max’ and ‘Jean Claude Van Damme’. The agents under their control were dubbed ‘Minions’ after the Despicable Me animated characters. At the Old Bailey on Monday, Mr Justice Hilliard sentenced Roussev to 10 years and eight months in prison and he jailed Dzhambazov for 10 years and two months in prison. Ivanova was jailed for nine years and eight months, and Gaberova was sentenced to six years, eights months and three weeks in prison. Ivanchev, who had pulled out of the conspiracy prior to the arrests, was sentenced to eight years in prison, while Stoyanov - who the judge said had a “limited” role - was jailed for five years and three weeks. The judge concluded the members of the spy ring “were motivated by money”, having all received large sums for their work. “The money paid by Mr Marsalek demonstrated to my satisfaction it must have been thought what the defendants were doing was of value”, he said. But he said regardless of the limits of their motivations, the groups had helped Russia to gain a “foot hold in the UK” and “undermined this country’s standing with allies”, while putting the targets of surveillance at risk of harm. He said: “There is a high price attached to the safety and interests of this nation, and the defendants put this at risk by using this country as a base to plan various operations. “Anyone who uses this country in that way commits a very serious offence.” In his sentencing remarks, the judge hailed the “extremely thorough and determined investigative work” which helped bring the group to justice. The capture of the spy ring, and revelations about their activities and methodology, makes this one of the biggest UK criminal cases featuring espionage for decades. All six, who moved to the UK using an EU settlement scheme, face deportation back to Bulgaria after serving half of their sentences in prison. The operations Operation 1 Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev was put under surveillance between September and November 2021, as a result of his work on a series of high-profile incidents involving Russia. He was the lead investigator on Russian affairs, and had been awarded for his work uncovering Russian links to the 2018 Salisbury Novichok poisoning. Mr Grozev had also investigated security organisations within the Russian State as well as the downing of airliner MH17, and he had ben put on a “wanted” list by Russian officials. His communications, home, and movements were monitored, he was followed from Vienna to a conference in Valencia in Spain by Ivanova, 33, Gaberova, 30, and Dzhambazov, and Ivanova managed to get on to the same flight. Gaberova befriended Mr Grozev on Facebook, they kept him under surveillance, and monitored a breakfast meeting he had with a colleague. Roussev and Marsalek had also talked about kidnapping Mr Grozev and taking him to Russia. Mr Grozev told the court he found details of the surveillance operation mounted against him “terrifying, disorientating, and deeply destabilising”. Operation 2 Russian investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov, the founder and editor-in-chief of media outlet ‘the Insider’, was targeted in November 2022. He had been forced to flee Russia as a dissident, and he was put under surveillance by the group in the UK. Ivanova followed him on a flight, taking photographs during the journey and managing to capture the PIN number on his phone with a camera on the strap of her bag. Operation 3 Former Kazakh politician Bergey Ryskaliyev was also put under surveillance in November 2021, after he had fled to the UK to seek asylum. He departed from his country after facing politically motivated criminal charges, after putting up opposition to the Kazakh government. Mr Ryskaliyev was under surveillance from the spy ring at two west London addresses, One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge and Warwick Chambers. Some of his friends and family confronted Stoyanov, 33, when he had sat outside one of the properties. Operation 4 An audacious plot was drawn up to stage “disruptive activity” at the Kazakh embassy in September 2022. Roussev led the plan to stage a fake protest at the embassy, in order to draw out genuine dissidents of the Kazakh regime. They would then gather intelligence on the dissidents to pass to Kazakhstan, in a ploy to ingratiate Russia. Among the suggested ideas was flying a drone over the embassy and spraying the building with pig’s blood. The spies also contemplated a honeytrap sting on the Kazakh President’s son, or alternatively creating deep-fake pornography of him. Mr Justice Hilliard said some of the suggestions that were put forward in the messages were “fanciful”. Operation 5 This operation involved surveillance at the Patch Barracks, a US Military base in Stuttgart in late 2022. Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said the military airbase was “believed by the defendants to be a location where Ukrainian forces were being trained in the use of surface to air weapons, at the very time of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. “The defendant’s plan was to target the airbase using a range of highly sophisticated technology designed to capture key intelligence about those present on the base.” Roussev produced the technology from his home, saying it had been “collecting dust” in his collection of spy equipment. Ivanova and Dzhambazov researched flats to rent in Stuttgart for the surveillance operation, and also scouted out places to park a vehicle containing the technology which could collect mobile phone data from soldiers at the barracks. Operation 6 Kirill Kachur, a Russian national, was targeted from September 2021 to January 2022. He spent time in Montenegro in late 2021 and early 2022, having previously been employed by the Investigative Committee of Russia. However he left the country in 2021 and was designated as a ‘foreign agent’ by Russia in November 2023. The trial heard a villa in Montenegro was rented for surveillance of Mr Kachur, with a drone being deployed during the covert operation. Messages suggested their operation was ultimately taken over by Russian operatives. Russia’s spymaster Jan Marsalek, a 44-year-old Austrian businessman, provided direction for Roussev and his team of spies, and had a direct line back to the Kremlin. Messages between Roussev and Marsalek were at the heart of the case, as they exchanged ideas to cause disruption and gathering vital intelligence. Marsalek said he believed a “successful operation on British ground would be amazing” following the Skripal poisonings in Salisbury. He once boasted of being able to acquire “nukes”, and criticised former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich for “leaving Russia and selling all his assets here”. Marsalek was not part of the criminal trial and is not in the dock, having fled from Austria and is believed to now be in Russia. He is on Interpol’s wanted list over the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard, amid claims of a £1.5 billion fraud. After fleeing, Marsalek told Roussev: “In my new role as an international fugitive I must outperform James Bond.” He fed more than 200,000 euros to Roussev to bankroll the espionage activities. The love triangle Dzhambazov was dating two women at the time of his arrest in February 2023, when he was caught by officers naked in beautician Gaberova’s bed. This revelation was the first that Ivanova, a receptionist for a medical laboratory, knew of his cheating ways. Gaberova, an award winning “lashes queen”, was charmed by Dzhambazov in Valencia and left her boyfriend Ivanchev, unaware the older man was still with his partner Ivanova. Messages recovered by police show how it was considered both women could be deployed in honeytrap sting operations, with Gaberova being described as a “killer sexy brunette”. A treasure trove of spyware was uncovered in a raid on Roussev’s operations centre in a former guesthouse in Great Yarmouth – described in messages as his “Indiana Jones garage”. Among the haul were homemade audiovisual spy devices hidden inside everyday objects including a rock, men’s ties, a Coke bottle and a Minions cuddly toy. Kit to make and test counterfeit identity documents was recovered from Roussev’s address, with a stash of fake passports also found at the one-bedroom flat in Harrow that Ivanova and Dzhambazov shared. Police pieced together six operations dating back to August 2020 from more than 100,000 Telegram messages on Roussev’s phone in which he and Marsalek made light of their dangerous plans. Roussev, when talking of Gaberova, suggested they could “definitely record something for Pornhub too. That girl is red hot, she is a swinger too.” Marsalek discussed kidnapping Mr Dobrokhotov, by boat, opining: “A successful operation on British ground would be amazing after the f**** up Skripal stuff.” Separately, Marsalek discussed kidnapping Mr Kachur in Montenegro, telling Roussev: “We don’t mind if he dies by accident but better if he manages to find his way to Moscow.” Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “The investigation team worked incredibly hard to piece together a complex and wide-ranging conspiracy that I would describe as espionage on an industrial scale. “The significant jail sentences handed to the group reflect the serious threat they posed to the safety and interests of the UK, as well as targets across Europe. “This case is a clear example of the increasing amount of state threat casework we are dealing with in the UK. It also highlights a relatively new phenomenon whereby espionage is being ‘outsourced’ by certain states. “Regardless of the form the threat takes, this investigation shows that we will take action to identify and disrupt any such activity that puts UK national security and the safety of the public at risk.” Security minister Dan Jarvis said: “These substantial sentences should send a clear warning to anyone seeking to threaten our security, harm the UK, and compromise the safety of the public. “This case is a stark reminder of the increasingly complex threat we face from hostile states who wish to undermine us, and why national security is a foundation of our Plan for Change. We will use the full range of tools and powers available to us to detect, disrupt, and deter malicious acts from hostile states and protect the public. “I am especially grateful for the work of our world-leading law enforcement partners and the Crown Prosecution Service for disrupting this threat and bringing these individuals to justice.”