Bed-hopping Putin spy ring are jailed for a total of 50 years for carrying out ‘industrial scale’ espionage in Britain from Great Yarmouth guesthouse

Six members of a bed-hopping Russian spy ring run out of a Great Yarmouth guesthouse were today jailed for a total of 50 years. 

The agents passed secrets to Russian intelligence for almost three years, spying on a US airbase in Germany and tailing opponents of Vladimir Putin – some of whom they plotted to kidnap, murder or snare in ‘honeytraps’. 

Vladimir Putin’s promiscuous gang of bed-hoppers were dubbed ‘the Minions’, after the yellow sidekicks from animated film Despicable Me, and ran one of the ‘largest and most complex’ enemy operations uncovered on UK soil. 

They carried out espionage on an ‘industrial scale’, putting lives and national security at risk.

Beautician Vanya Gaberova, 30, and lab technician Katrin Ivanova, 33, who were in a love triangle with the operations chief of the spy ring, were jailed for six years and eight months and nine years eight months respectively. 

Bizer Dzhambazov, 44, a delivery driver who ran the ground operations of the spy ring, pretended to have cancer to cover up his affair with Gaberova.

He received a sentence of ten years and two months. His best friend Ivan Stoyanov, 33, a former cage fighter known as ‘The Rock’, who had represented Bulgaria at judo and sambo, was jailed for six years and four months.

Gaberova’s ex-boyfriend Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a former champion international open water swimmer who worked as a painter and decorator in Enfield, north London, was jailed for eight years.

At the head of the operation was Orlin Roussev, 46, who worked for a technology company at the London Stock Exchange before setting himself up as a freelance spy for hire.

He ran operations from a guest house in Great Yarmouth bought for £220,000 in 2021 and received his orders from spy handler Jan Marsalek, a fugitive businessman wanted by international law enforcement over a £1.6billion fraud.

Roussev was given ten years and eight months by judge Mr Justice Hilliard.

Beautician Vanya Gaberova (pictured), decorator Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, and lab technician Katrin Ivanova, 33, were found guilty of conspiring to spy for Russia

Pictured: Gaberova’s tearful police mugshot was released today

Katrin Ivanova (pictured) was found guilty of being part of the network of spies who passed information on to the Russian state 

Decorator Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, (left) and Orlin Roussev, 46, (right) were both accused of being part of the ring. Roussev pleaded guilty at an earlier date

Biser Dzhambazov pleaded guilty to spying for the Kremlin

Ivan Stoyanov, 32, pleaded guilty to the charges under the Official Secrets Act

Before sentencing, three of the Bulgarians – Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova – remained in court eight, while their accomplices sat in the dock in an overflow court. 

Beautician Gaberova was seen laughing and joking with the dock officers who sat either side of her during a pause in proceedings. 

The 30-year-old had earlier wept in in court as her barrister, Anthony Metzer KC, said she was ‘besotted’ with her spy boss Dzhambazov, who duped her into joining the spy ring. ‘She became besotted with Mr Dzhambazov… she was losing her sense of perspective,’ Mr Metzer said. 

‘She slipped into criminality. [The relationship] clouded and distorted her judgment.’

Police who raided Gaberova’s flat found the beautician naked in bed with unlikely lothario Dzhambazov. His long-term partner, Ivanova, only learned of their affair when she herself was arrested. 

The group’s well-financed activities spanned London, Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro and Stuttgart, with the two women intended to be used in a series of ‘honeytrap’ plots, their Old Bailey trial heard. 

At least £170,000 was sent by the group’s Moscow-based handler, Marsalek, to finance the operations, which were planned across 80,000 messages.

An ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of sophisticated technology including rocks containing hidden cameras, a £120,000 device for intercepting mobile phone numbers, 11 drones, 221 mobile phones and 75 fake passports were found at Roussev’s guest house. 

The Bulgarian referred to himself as ‘Q Branch’ after James Bond’s famous quartermaster, and built many of the devices himself. 

After their conviction, Commander Murphy, of Scotland Yard, said the investigation into the group was the largest he had seen in his two decades of counter-terrorism.

Gaberova pictured with Biser Dzhambazov, 43, who had already admitted the charges under the Official Secrets act

Bodycam footage released showed the moment Roussev, from Bulgaria, was apprehended at his home on February 8, 2023

While being held in place by a cop, Roussev is heard trying to throw police off. ‘I think it’s the wrong place,’ he declares

Pictured: Fake press cards belonging to Gaberova and Ivanchev that were shown to the jury during the trial

Fugitive businessman Jan Marsalek (pictured in his passport photo) was the financer of the operations 

A fake Belgian passport in the name of Alexandre Schmidt, with a photograph of Jan Marsalek

An Interpol red notice issued at the request of Germany in August 2020 for spy Jan Marsalek

A Slovenian ID card in the name of Marko Humar, with a photo of spy chief Orlin Roussev

Sophisticated technology including rocks containing hidden cameras and a £120,000 device for intercepting mobile phone numbers was found at an address in Great Yarmouth 

Police also found 11 drones, 221 mobile phones and 75 fake passports at Roussev’s guesthouse

Bulgarian national Dzhambazov, 43, admitted spying in the UK on behalf of Russia 

Pictured: The Haydee Hotel guest house in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, which was linked to the spy ring 

A photo of a fake Dzhambazov press ID card shown to the jury during the trial

A surveillance image of Christo Grozev, whose work uncovering the men behind the Salisbury nerve agent attack made him a target for the Kremlin, and Roman Dobrokhotov

The agents used hi-tech equipment to try and track Ukrainian servicemen training at US airbase Patch Barracks in Stuttgart (Pictured: A minion camera seized by police)

‘This was spying on an almost industrial scale on behalf of Russia,’ he added. ‘It felt like something you would expect to read in a spy novel. This is not something we see very often.’ 

The two women in the group were tasked with setting honeytraps for targets including journalist Christo Grozev, whose work uncovering the men behind the Salisbury nerve-agent attack made him a Kremlin target. 

The spies also targeted a UK-based Russian dissident who they discussed killing with a poison dart fired from a drone, and a Russian lawyer who they planned to bring to Moscow ‘dead or alive’ for a fee of £340,000. 

The agents used hi-tech equipment to try to track Ukrainian servicemen training at US airbase Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, with the aim of finding out where US Patriot missiles were being fired from. 

They agreed a £34,000-a-month budget for the operation, which was cut short when the spies were arrested by British police in February 2023. 

After the 2018 Salisbury poison attack, Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats identified as undeclared intelligence officers, and 100 Russian diplomat visa applications have been denied on security grounds in the years since. 

A photo of Vanya Gaberova in spy glasses that was shown to jury during the trial 

Bulgarian national Dzhambazov, 43, admitted spying in the UK on behalf of Russia

Dzhambazov sent his handler images of combat gear they planned to supply to Russian troops

 

More images of combat gear that was sent to Marsalek

Police camera footage shows Ivanchev being interviewed by police after his arrest

Russian intelligence agencies have turned to other methods to carry out covert plots, often using expendable proxy groups handlers refer to as ‘misfits’, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, said. 

‘The use of criminal proxies is one of the most demanding matters in the state threat world,’ he told the Mail. 

‘And Orlin Roussev shows us that [the Russian state] is using very sophisticated actors. This activity was taking place while Russia was at war on one front with Ukraine and clearly willing to open up aggressive espionage fronts inside the UK and our western allies.’ 

Mr Hall added: ‘Using proxies means they are expendable. If they are apprehended then they won’t know much about the wider system operating them.’ 

A screengrab from the social media network Telegram of Biser Dzhambazov, wearing what appears to be loo roll on his head, while on a video call with Vanya Gaberova

Spies Katrin Ivanova (left) and Vanya Gaberova (right) are seen in an artist’s illustration during an earlier appearance at Westminster Magistrates court via videolink

Image shows a Coca Cola bottle that was seized as part of the investigation 

A handout photo issued by Met Police of the Jewish Museum in Vienna, where the spy ring planned to post Nazi Ukrainian stickers

Screen grab taken from police body cam showing the arrest of spy chief Orlin Roussev in Great Yarmouth in 2023

Spy chief Roussev shown during the moment of his arrest at his Great Yarmouth home in 2023

At least £200,000 was sent by the group’s Moscow-based handler, fugitive businessman Jan Marsalek, to finance the operations, which were planned over 80,000 messages exchanged with Roussev (pictured during his arrest) over Telegram

A wider shot of the scene of Roussev’s arrest shows special equipment used for his activities

Mobile phones found by police inside a safe at a property occupied by Biser Dzhambazov and Katrin Ivanova in High Road, Harrow

Footage shows Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev speaking to a police officer outside the home of his ex-girlfriend Vanya Gaberova the day after she was arrested

Britain had to work under the assumption that state-sponsored acts of sabotage and disruption would continue, he added.

‘Spying is as old as the hills and there is no reason to think that the appetite is going to decrease.

‘It is not limited to traditional spying, there is also information warfare designed to cause disruption, undermine systems and even influence voting.

‘Some of it will be very attention-grabbing, murder for hire for example, but quite a lot of this is actually very subtle and a longterm influence operation. The harm is less immediately obvious and it is very hard to tell if there is a hidden hand at work.’

Who are the Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia? 

The spy handler, Jan Marsalek, 44

A fugitive businessman hiding out in Moscow, Jan Marsalek directed operations via 80,000 Telegram messages he exchanged with Orlin Roussev.

One of Interpol’s most wanted men, the 44-year-old former executive at German tech firm Wirecard has been on the run since the company collapsed in 2020 amid an alleged £1.6bn fraud.

The grandson of a Soviet spy, Marsalek is thought to have first been brought into Russian intelligence by former GRU officer Stanislav Petlinsky after the pair met on a yacht at his girlfriend’s birthday party in Nice, France, in 2014.

He is understood to have received instructions directly from Russian intelligence at the heart of the Kremlin.

Fugitive businessman Jan Marsalek (pictured in his passport photo) was the financer of the operations 

‘Q Branch’, Orlin Roussev, 46 

Orlin Roussev, 46, ran operations from a guesthouse in Great Yarmouth bought for £220,000 in 2021.

He referred to himself as ‘Q Branch’ because of his skills building spy gadgets, and thousands of pieces of sophisticated equipment, as well as forged identity documents, were found at his home.

Among them were homemade devices including a camera hidden in a rock, a Coca-Cola bottle containing another concealed camera and a £120,000 IMSI grabber which can intercept mobile phone information.

Roussev received orders directly from Marsalek along with hundreds of thousands of pounds to finance operations.

He had a telecommunications background and moved to Britain in 2009.

Orlin Roussev, 46, (pictured) ran operations from a guesthouse in Great Yarmouth bought for £220,000 in 2021

The adulterous middle-manager, Biser Dzhambazov, 43 

Biser Dzhambazov was in charge of recruiting and directing the spies on the ground, receiving orders directly from Roussev.

The 43-year-old moved to the UK with his long-term girlfriend Katrin Ivanova, 33, but began an affair with Vanya Gaberova after recruiting her to the spy ring in 2021.

To explain his long absences to his mistress, he told her he had cancer and sent her photos of himself with ‘bandages’ made of toilet paper wrapped round his head.

When police carried out a series of raids to round up the spies in February 2023 they found Dzhambazov and Gaberova naked in bed together.

Bulgarian national Dzhambazov, 43, (pictured) previously admitted to spying in the UK on behalf of Russia

Scorned girlfriend / chief minion, Ivanova, 33

Katrin Ivanova was Dzhambazov’s long-term partner, having first started dating in Bulgaria when she was 17 and he was 27.

She was referred to by Roussev and Marsalek as ‘chief minion’ and one half of the ‘brunette twins’ with Gaberova.

Ivanova stalked journalist Christo Grozev and Russian dissident Roman Dobrokhotov on international flights, covertly filming them after the spies successfully accessed booking systems to place her near the targets.

She learned of Dzhambazov’s affair with Gaberova from a police statement after she was arrested.

Katrin Ivanova was Dzhambazov’s long-term partner, having first started dating in Bulgaria when she was 17 and he was 27

 The Muscle, Ivan Stoyanov, 33 

Ivan Stoyanov is a mixed martial arts fanatic from Greenford, west London, nicknamed ‘The Rock.

He met Dzhambazov and Ivanova through working at the same laboratory.

The ‘muscle’ of the operation, Roussev described Stoyanov, who grew up in a tower block in Bulgaria’s capital, as someone who ‘completed the police academy in Sofia and is former European MMA [mixed martial arts] champion.’

A video of Stoyanov’s bruising 2015 heavyweight knockout victory over a fighter named Josh Roosevelt Jones remains on YouTube.

Ivan Stoyanov (pictured) was a mixed martial arts fanatic from Greenford, west London, nicknamed ‘The Rock

Queen of the Lashes, Vanya Gaberova, 30 

Vanya Gaberova ran a beauty parlour in Acton, west London, opened through a loan taken out by ex-boyfriend Tihomir Ivanchev.

The multi-award winning beautician, known as ‘Queen of the Lashes,’ was brought into the spy ring after meeting Dzhambazov at a Bulgarian polling station in London in 2021.

She recruited Ivanchev before leaving him to have an illicit affair with Dzhambazov.

Described as a ‘true sexy bitch’ by her spy bosses, Gaberova was intended to carry out ‘honeytrap’ plots and was ordered to send a Facebook request to journalist Christo Grozev before attempting to seduce him.

Vanya Gaberova (pictured in her custody photo) ran a beauty parlour in Acton, west London, opened through a loan taken out by ex-boyfriend Tihomir Ivanchev

The swimmer, Tihomir Ivanchev, 39

Recruited into the ring by his then-girlfriend Vanya Gaberova, Tihomir Ivanchev had been a promising open water swimmer in his native Bulgaria before abandoning the sport and moving to London in 2012. 

A painter and decorator who worked seven days a week, Ivanchev said he was told the foreign spying trips would be ‘more like paid holidays,’ and went to visit the zoo in Vienna when he was tasked with following journalist Christo Grozev. 

Ivanchev was the last to be arrested and was very cooperative with police. His barrister told his trial that during questioning he ‘sung like Justin Bieber, like a canary.’

Tihomir Ivanchev (pictured) was the last to be arrested and was very cooperative with police

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