LONDON (AP) — Three Bulgarian nationals based in Britain were convicted on Friday by a London jury of spying for Russia on what police said was “an industrial scale.”
The trio, nicknamed “the Minions” by one of their ringleaders, was accused of putting lives in danger as they followed orders on behalf of Russian intelligence to carry out surveillance across Europe.
Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were convicted Friday at London’s Central Criminal Court after a trial that began in November. Jurors deliberated for more than 32 hours before finding the Bulgarians guilty of plotting to spy for an enemy state. They face up to 14 years in prison when they are sentenced in May.
The three, who were tangled in sexual relationships with one of their handlers or each other, denied being in on the plot and claimed they didn’t know who they were working for or were lied to by their superiors.
Prosecutors said that the suspects carried out operations in the U.K., Austria, Spain, Germany and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023. It was alleged that they spied on a U.S. air base in Germany where Ukrainian troops were said to be training, and had discussed kidnapping or killing opponents of the Russian state.
They also allegedly tried to lure a Bulgarian journalist who uncovered Moscow’s involvement in the 2018 Novichok poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, into a “honeytrap” romance with Gaberova.
The ringleaders discussed robbing and killing Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev, or kidnapping him and taking him to Russia.
The spy ring also included two other defendants, ringleader Orlin Roussev and his underling Biser Dzhambazov, also Bulgarian nationals. They previously pleaded guilty to espionage charges and having false identity documents.
Roussev, 47, was directed by alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, an Austrian national wanted by Interpol after the 2020 collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard. His whereabouts are unknown.
The cell discussed plans in chats on secure messaging app Telegram that were found by police on Roussev’s phone. In the messages, Roussev was nicknamed Jackie Chan, while Dzhambazov went by Mad Max and Jean-Claude Van Damme. He referred to his trio of spies as “the Minions,” after the yellow cartoon sidekicks from the film “Despicable Me.”
Dzhambazov was in a relationship with two other defendants, his long-term partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova. Gaberova, in turn, had ditched Ivanchev for Dzhambazov, who took her to Michelin-starred restaurants and stayed with her in a five-star hotel.
When police moved in to arrest the suspects in February 2023, they found Dzhambazov naked in bed with Gaberova rather than at home with Ivanova.
Both women claimed during the trial that they had been deceived and manipulated by Dzhambazov.
“Reading some of the messages and content on the devices you might be tempted to think this is not a serious threat," said Commander Dominic Murphy, counterterrorism chief at London’s Metropolitan Police. "But behind those nicknames was an extremely sophisticated intelligence-gathering operation that posed a threat to national security and individuals, including journalists.
“This was industrial-scale espionage on behalf of Russia,” he said.
Brian Melley And Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
