Russian spies plotted to spray 100 litres of pigs blood on to the Kazakhstan embassy in London with a drone, the Old Bailey has heard.
Agents embedded in the UK considered targeting the embassy in Pall Mall with a staged protest, to try to “gain favour” with the Central Asian regime for Russia, jurors heard.
Spies joked about “bloody glorious” tests they conducted while planning the protest, and swapped messages about collecting bags of pigs blood, the court was told.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said the plot involved diluting real or fake blood so it could be sprayed from the air from a drone, with the possibility of it also glowing in the dark.
“They would orchestrate a fake protest at the embassy, then information about the alleged perpetrators - anyone who joined in that protest - would be passed on to Kazakhstan, to make it look like Russia was prepared to help Kazakhstan, thereby promoting their on-going relationship”, she said.
“In fact, the basis for the assistance would be entirely staged.”
Orlin Roussev, 46, the leader of the UK-based spy ring, and one of his associates Biser Dzhambazov, 43, have both already pleaded guilty to involvement in the plot.
Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, are on trial and deny being part of a three-year conspiracy to spy for Russia in the UK.
Ivanova is accused of direct involvement in the Kazakh embassy plot which was hatched in August 2022.
Telegram messages show Roussev was tasked by the spy ring’s handler, Jan Marsalek, with coming up with ideas to target the Kazakhs, and he suggested releasing “deep fake porn” online of the President’s son.
The court heard Roussev and Marsalek believed a fake protest outside the embassy would flush out genuine opponents to the Kazakh regime, enabling them to compile a dossier of intelligence that Russia could then hand over.
In August 2022, Marsalek asked Roussev for “creative ideas to make their lives miserable”, after suggesting Russian was about to be embroiled in a “war” with the Kazakh President’s family.
Roussev replied “hacking Kazakh powerplants, leaking sex videos, crashing the currency”.
A little later, he raised the possibility of “graffities and demonstrations outside the Kazakh embassy in London” and a “deep fake porn video of the son of the president”.
On September 6, 2022, Roussev proposed they could “drop litres of pig blood on to the Kazakh embassy in London”.
Jurors heard Roussev, who used the moniker “Jackie Chan”, and Dzhambazov, dubbed “Mad Max” and “Jean Claude Van Damme”, made plans for the fake protest.
They allegedly swapped messages about acquiring Kazakhstani flags, hiring buses, and publicity to drum up support from genuine Kazakh opponents.
Roussev and Marsalek talked of setting up a foundation in Singapore called “Truth on the Steppes Publishing Ltd” that would be the supposed organisers of the fake protest, and would hold meetings in a west London pub.
“Discussion then moved to the possibility of dropping 100 litres of pigs’ blood onto the embassy and the quantity of drones required to do so”, said Ms Morgan.
“Jan Marsalek made it clear that the idea was to film and publish the event, saying that it was the blood of the innocent Kazakh people which the President had on his hands.”
Jurors were also shown messages from Dzhambazov as he allegedly planned to deliberately lay a series of false clues, including a staged picture in the west London pub, which could be handed to the Kazakhs as evidence of the protest being genuine.
It is said the spy ring also targeted journalists who have investigated Russia, putting them under surveillance, tracking their movements, and attempting to infiltrate their private lives.
Marsalek and Roussev are said to have led a plot to use London-based beautician Gaberova, who they dubbed a “true sexy b***”, to target Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev in 2021.
Marsalek and Roussev allegedly discussed various options, including robbing Mr Grozev, burning his property, kidnapping him and taking him to Moscow, infiltrating Bellingcat, and even killing him.
The court has heard Gaberova and Ivanova were both in a relationship with Dzhambazov.
Ivanova, who lived with Dzhambazov in High Road, Harrow, Gaberova, from Churchway, Camden, and Ivanchev, from Brigadier Hill in Enfield, north London, all deny conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state.
Ivanova is also accused of possession of false identity documents with improper intention.
The trial continues.
