Six members of a Russian proxy spy ring dubbed “the Minions” are facing years behind bars for one of the “largest and most complex” enemy operations to be uncovered on UK soil.
Bulgarians Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of spying on an “industrial scale”, putting lives and national security at risk.
They engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations over three years in which they were referred to as Despicable Me’s yellow sidekicks.
Instead of a cartoon evil mastermind Gru, the defendants acted as spies working for the Russian intelligence service, also known as GRU.
They were directed by alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian businessman wanted by Interpol after the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard.
Marsalek acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, in Great Yarmouth who received more than 200,000 euros (over £165,600) to fund the spying activities.
He deployed the Minions with second-in-command Biser Dzhambazov, 43, who was in a love triangle with two of the team – his partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova, jurors heard.
They targeted people and places of interest to the Russian state, even plotting to sweep up mobile phone data of Ukrainian soldiers thought to be trained at a US airbase in Germany before heading for the front line.
They also discussed using “lashes queen” Gaberova as a honeytrap to snare a high-profile journalist, dropping 100 litres of pigs blood on the Kazakhstan embassy in London by drone, and kidnapping a man on UK soil.
When police moved to arrest the spies in February 2023, they found Dzhambazov naked in bed with his lover Gaberova rather than at home with Ivanova.
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.
In the chat, Roussev was nicknamed Jackie Chan, Dzhambazov went by Mad Max and Jean-Claude Van Damme, and referred to his spies as The Minions.
A jury deliberated for more than 32 hours to find Ivanova, of Harrow, Gaberova, of Euston, and Ivanchev, of Acton, guilty on Friday of plotting to spy for an enemy state.
Ivanova was also convicted of having a stash of false identity documents “with improper intention”, which Roussev and Dzhambazov admitted along with the spy plot.
A sixth defendant, Ivan Stoyanov, 33, from Greenford, London, had also admitted spying for Russia, it can now be reported.
The defendants made no reaction as the verdicts were delivered.
Mr Justice Hilliard KC remanded the defendants into custody until sentencing between May 7 and May 12.
The defendants face sentences of up to 14 years in jail for the activities in the UK, Austria, Spain, Germany and Montenegro.
Met counter-terrorism chief Commander Dominic Murphy told PA news agency: “This was industrial-scale espionage on behalf of Russia.
“This is one of the largest and most complex examples of a group working for a foreign state to conduct intelligence surveillance operations here in the UK so it is a significant case and I am very proud of the investigation team and the success they have had.
“Really sophisticated devices – the sort of thing you would really expect to see in a spy novel – were found here, in Great Yarmouth and London.
“I have never seen anything like this in my more than 20 years in counter-terrorism. It was an extremely sophisticated operation.
“Reading some of the messages and content on the devices you might be tempted to think this is not a serious threat, but behind those nicknames was an extremely sophisticated intelligence-gathering operation that posed a threat to national security and individuals, including journalists.”
Had the group not been arrested, lives could ultimately have been lost as happened as a result of the 2018 Novichok attack in Salisbury.
Mr Murphy said: “My concern has always been what that lifestyle surveillance was going to lead to and we have seen a long history of the Russian state conducting operations here in the UK, including lethal threat operations like the investigation in Salisbury.”
Frank Ferguson, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a high-level espionage operation with significant financial rewards for those involved in the spy ring.
“By targeting individuals in the UK fleeing persecution as well as journalists opposing the Russian regime, the group undermined the message that the UK is a safe country for those people.
“This prolonged activity also undermined the security and safety of the UK; and there can be no doubt that each of the defendants knew exactly who they were spying for.”
The court had heard how journalist Christo Grozev was targeted after he exposed Russian links to the Novichok poisoning and the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in July 2014.
He was followed from Vienna to a conference in Valencia in Spain, with Ivanova able to get close enough on the plane to record the PIN number on his phone with a camera on the strap of her bag after the spies acquired his flight manisfest.
Gaberova befriended the 54-year-old on Facebook and took covert pictures of Mr Grozev having breakfast at the Palace Hotel with Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins.
Roussev discussed with Marsalek deploying “true sexy bitch” Gaberova as a honeytrap against Mr Grozev, saying: “We can definitely record something for Pornhub too. That girl is red hot, she is a swinger too.”
Marsalek discussed kidnapping another investigative journalist, Roman Dobrokhotov, by boat, opining: “A successful operation on British ground would be amazing after the f**** up Skripal stuff.”
Ultimately, he concluded Operation Boat was too dangerous, telling Roussev: “If something goes wrong the UK authorities have a minimal response time between identifying your involvement and going after you.”
The court heard of plans to help Russian intelligence services ingratiate themselves with Kazakhstan counterparts.
One idea was to offer intelligence after staging a fake protest outside the embassy, with Ivanova arranging a supply of “blood” in exchange for a bonus of £2,400.
At the time she, Dzhambazov and Stoyanov were working for a medical courier company.
Video of fake blood was shared and Roussev giving updates on the “vampire team”, which Marsalek said was “bloody glorious literally”.
The group went on to carry out surveillance on Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, German, believing that Ukrainian soldiers were being trained there on how to use the Patriot Air Defence System.
Roussev was instructed to get out his “IMSI grabber” – a device to capture mobile phone data – which was gathering dust in his “Indiana Jones garage” in Great Yarmouth.
In chilling discussions, Marsalek discussed kidnapping Russian lawyer Kirill 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.”
Giving evidence, Ivanova claimed she was deceived by her long-term partner, Dzhambazov, and did not know she was providing intelligence to Russia.
She told jurors: “I purely believed what I was told and that was my mistake.”
Gaberova said she was “lied to, manipulated, used and exposed” by her boyfriend Dzhambazov, who she thought was an Interpol officer with brain cancer.
She expressed horror at the honeytrap plot, saying: “These people had horrible plans for me.”
Former competitive swimmer Ivanchev declined to give evidence but claimed in his police interview Gaberova “manipulated” him.
