Six Bulgarian spies jailed for feeding information to RussiaTopic:Crime2h ago2 hours agoTue 13 May 2025 at 2:27amMembers of the spy ring had fake IDs and uniforms to help them on their operations. (Supplied: UK Crown Prosecution Service)In short:Six Bulgarian spies are serving prison terms of up to nearly 11 years for spying for Russia.The group targeted reporters, diplomats and Ukrainian troops in the UK, Germany, Austria, Spain and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said.What's next?Each of the six faces deportation after they are released from prison.abc.net.au/news/six-bulgarians-jailed-in-uk-for-spying-for-russia/105285478Link copiedShareShare articleSix Bulgarian spies have been sentenced by a London judge to prison terms of up to nearly 11 years for carrying out a sophisticated spying operation for Russia.The group that used Hollywood code names discussed kidnapping or killing Kremlin opponents as they targeted reporters, diplomats and Ukrainian troops in the UK, Germany Austria, Spain and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said, on Monday.No-one was physically harmed but the group put lives in jeopardy, prosecutors said.Russian spies nabbed in UKPhoto shows Vanya Gaberova looks into a bathroom mirror wearing glasses capable of recording video.Operating out of a rundown hotel in Norfolk, Russian spies known as "The Minions" and their ringleader who went by the codename "Jackie Chan" gathered information on targets of interest to Russia for years but after being caught they will soon be sentenced."It is self-evident that a high price attaches to the safety and interests of this nation," Justice Nicholas Hilliard said."The defendants put these things at risk by using this country as a base from which to plan the various operations."Anyone who uses this country in that way, in the circumstances of this case, commits a very serious offence."Ringleader Orlin Roussev, who operated out of a former guesthouse in the English seaside resort town of Great Yarmouth, was given the stiffest sentence — 10 years and eight months in prison — for being involved in all six operations discovered by police. He and the others faced up to 14 years behind bars.Orlin Roussev, who has been sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison. (AP: Metropolitan Police)Roussev worked for alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, an Austrian national who is wanted by Interpol for fraud and embezzlement after the 2020 collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard, prosecutors said. His whereabouts are unknown.Stiff sentences send a messageSecurity Minister Dan Jarvis said the case sent a warning that Britain would use its "full range of tools" to "detect, disrupt, and deter malicious acts from hostile states and protect the public".Roussev, 47, and his lieutenant Biser Dzhambazov, 44, pleaded guilty in London's Central Criminal Court last year to espionage charges and having false identity documents. Dzhambazov was sentenced to 10 years and two months in prison.The Bulgarian spies operated for years, tracking people and sourcing information sought by the Kremlin. (Supplied: UK Crown Prosecution Service)Roussev called himself Jackie Chan and Dzhambazov was dubbed Mad Max or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Their underlings were dubbed "Minions" from the animated Despicable Me film franchise.Police said their fanciful pseudonyms masked a deadly serious gang.In one operation, members tried to lure a journalist who uncovered Moscow's involvement in the 2018 Novichok poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, into a "honeytrap" romance with another member of the group, Vanya Gaberova.The spies followed Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian researcher for the online publication Bellingcat, from Vienna to a conference in Valencia, Spain, and the gang's ringleaders discussed robbing and killing him, or kidnapping him and taking him to Russia.Biser Dzhambazov has been jailed for 10 years and two months in prison. (AP: Metropolitan Police)"Learning only in retrospect that foreign agents have been monitoring my movements, communications and home, surveying my loved ones over an extended period, has been terrifying, disorientating and deeply destabilising," Grozev said in a statement read during the four-day sentencing hearing. "The consequences have not faded with time — they have fundamentally changed how I live my daily life and how I relate to the world around me."Ringleader claimed he was 'no James Bond'In another operation, members of the group conducted surveillance on a US air base in Germany where they believed Ukrainian troops were training.After police raided his house and arrested Roussev, he denied doing anything on behalf of any government."I would be thrilled to see how on God's earth there is a connection between me and Russia or any other state because I haven't been a spy or government agent," Roussev said in a police interview."No James Bond activity on my end, I guarantee you."Messages to Marsalek, however, showed him talking about his "Indiana Jones warehouse" of spy equipment and said he was becoming like "Q," the mastermind behind Bond's gadgets.Some of the sophisticated technology that was used to spy on the US base, according to UK prosecutors. (Supplied: UK Crown Prosecution Service)Roussev's house was loaded with spy tech. He had equipment used to jam Wi-Fi and GPS signals, along with eavesdropping devices and car trackers. Cameras were hidden in sunglasses, pens, neckties and cuddly toys, including one in a Minion doll.A selfie of Marsalek wearing a Russian uniform was found on Roussev's phone.Three of the so-called minions were convicted at trial in March of spying for an enemy state.Katrin Ivanova, 33, was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison; Gaberova, 30, was sentenced to six years and eight months; and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, was sentenced to eight years in prison.The "Minions" — Vanya Gaberova, Katrin Ivanova, and Tihomir Ivanchev — are due to be sentenced in May. (Reuters: Metropolitan Police Service)Ivan Stoyanov, 33, a mixed martial arts fighter who pleaded guilty to spying for Russia, was sentenced to five years and three weeks in prison.Each convict faces deportation after they are released from prison.Spy ring contains love triangleBoth women had claimed during the trial that they had been deceived and manipulated by Dzhambazov.Dzhambazov, who worked for a medical courier company but claimed to be an Interpol police officer, was in a relationship with both women — his laboratory assistant and longtime partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova.Gaberova had ditched painter-decorator Ivanchev for the "ugly" Dzhambazov, who took her to a Michelin-starred restaurant and stayed with her in a five-star hotel during a surveillance mission. 'Sleepers', 'illegals' and 'NOCs': These are the different kinds of spies and how they operatePhoto shows A composite image of the woman and man in seperate images.Often referred to as the "second oldest profession", espionage is a tool used by many countries to keep tabs on their adversaries. So what spies for Russia doing in Australia and how were they able to keep operating in secret?When police arrested the suspects in February 2023, they found Dzhambazov naked in bed with Gaberova rather than at home with Ivanova.Defence lawyer Anthony Metzer said Gaberova was naive and her case was tragic as she "slipped into criminality" under Dzhambazov's romantic spell.But the judge said she knew what she was doing was for Russia."You found what you were doing exciting and glamorous, as demonstrated by the film you took of yourself wearing surveillance glasses in Montenegro," Justice Hilliard said.APPosted 2h ago2 hours agoTue 13 May 2025 at 2:27am, updated 31m ago31 minutes agoTue 13 May 2025 at 4:05amShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top Stories'We should all share responsibility': Sussan Ley says of Liberals' election resultLIVEPhoto shows Susan Ley talks while standing behind a lectern. 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