Russian aggression has seen the number of people charged with spying for a foreign state hit its highest level in over a decade as experts warn ‘proxy war’ on Britain is intensifying

Russian aggression has seen the number of people charged with spying for a foreign state hit its highest level in over a decade, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The number of those charged with espionage has rocketed in the last year.

Experts warn Russia and other rogue states are launching a ‘proxy war’ on Britain which will only intensify.

British intelligence services have launched a crackdown on this, which military leaders have said has led to the increase in prosecutions.

There is also a fear organised crime gangs based in Britain are being recruited and paid for by rogue states to do work on their behalf, thus increasing the risk.

Figures from the Crown Prosecution Service show that only three people were charged over espionage offences from 2014 to 2023, leading to two convictions – but a total of 14 people were charged with similar crimes last year.

Espionage offences can include assisting a foreign intelligence service, providing prejudicial information to a foreign state, and conspiring to aid an enemy nation by collecting information that would jeopardise the safety of the UK.

Of the 14 individuals who were accused of being spies last year, at least seven have now been convicted.

Experts warn Russia and other rogue states are launching a ‘proxy war’ on Britain which will only intensify

British intelligence services have launched a crackdown on this, which military leaders have said has led to the increase in prosecutions . Pictured: GCHQ

Orlin Roussev (pictured), who lived in a guest house in Great Yarmouth, is said to have ‘tasked’ the network of spies

Last month at the end of a three month trial, six Bulgarian nationals were convicted for spying for Russia in one of the largest foreign intelligence operations in the UK.

Vanya Gaberova, 30, Katrin Ivanova, 33, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, who were all living in London, were found guilty of spying on journalists, a former politician, and a US military base in Germany between 2020 and 2023.

Lord Richard Dannat, former head of the British Army, said the numbers had increased due to aggression from Russia and hostile states.

He said the ‘insecurity’ across the world had meant they were launching more espionage activity and Britain’s security services were becoming better at stopping it and raising awareness of it.

Lord Dannat said: ‘This shows Russia is becoming more and more aggressive. The world is a very insecure place right now.

‘Russia is fighting its conflict in Ukraine and it is launching all sorts of other hybrid attacks.

‘It is fermenting conflict short of war.’

Vanya Gaberova (pictured), accompanied spy, Biser Dzhambazov, 43, on surveillance missions but claims she thought the trips were holidays and that he convinced her he worked for Interpol

Jurors were told Gaberova, who ran a beauticians called Pretty Woman in West London, was ‘naive’ and that her judgement had been ‘clouded by love’. Pictured: Biser Dzhambazov

Lord Dannat said British intelligence services were very aware of the threat.

He added: ‘Our security services are aware of this and are doing a very good job at stopping it, as these figures confirm.

‘The threat and activity has gone up and so our security services have upped their game.

‘Russia itself is under a lot of pressure. It cannot afford a physical conflict anywhere else as it does not have the manpower.

‘So it is creating these sorts of attacks through espionage. The figures show there is more threat and activity and we’re also doing well at stopping it.’

Tan Dhesi MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Defence Committee said: ‘With adversary states acting with increasing aggression in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region, focus at home should be turning towards our nation’s defence and security.

‘It is therefore concerning to see a spike in the number of individuals charged with espionage offences over the last year. Whilst I commend our security services for their vital work in safeguarding the UK and its interests, it is clear that more must be done to bolster our counter-intelligence capabilities.’

Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, said:

‘Over the last number of years, we’ve seen a sharp rise in threats projected into the UK by hostile state actors. 

Lord Dannat said: ‘Russia itself is under a lot of pressure. It cannot afford a physical conflict anywhere else as it does not have the manpower. So it is creating these sorts of attacks through espionage. The figures show there is more threat and activity and we’re also doing well at stopping it.’

‘By this, we mean we are seeing the regimes of foreign nations, threatening individuals that have simply made the UK their home. 

‘It can also mean foreign states seeking to infiltrate or sabotage organisations and businesses, or interfere with democratic, financial or academic institutions for their own gain.

‘That is why Counter Terrorism Policing worked closely with the UK government and our intelligence partners to make sure the National Security Act provided policing with the powers it needed to deter, detect, and disrupt this type of activity. 

‘We anticipated that once the act was live we would be able to increase our operational activity and that has been the reality since the implementation of the legislation.’

Col Richard Kemp, former head of counter terrorism in Afghanistan, said the figures were ‘worrying’.

He said: ‘It shows the nature of the threat we here in Britain face. These people want to harm our country and our democracy and our way of life.’

The spy ring was run from a guest house in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, by Orlin Roussev, 47, who pleaded guilty to espionage offences before facing a trial.

Gaberova, along with her ex-boyfriend Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, and lab assistant Katrin Ivanova, 33, all deny working for Russian intelligence services between August 2020 and February 2023. Pictured: Katrin Ivanova

Pictured (left to right): Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova, Orlin Roussev, Ivan Stoyanov and Biser Dzhambazov appearing via video link at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, London

Fellow spies Bizer Dzhambazov, 43, and Ivan Stoyanov, 33, also gave guilty pleas before their trials.

After raiding the spy ring’s base in a 33-room former hotel in Great Yarmouth, police uncovered an array of sophisticated spying equipment, including cameras concealed in a fake rock and a pair of glasses.

The group had spied on a US military base in Germany as they believed Ukrainian troops were being trained on site.

The spy ring also planned to stage a protest outside the Kazakhstan embassy in London and monitor a former senior Kazakh politician, who lived in the UK, as part of an elaborate plan to help Russia gain favour with its southern neighbour in Central Asia.

The group’s conviction comes less than six months after a former British Army soldier was found guilty of spying on fellow soldiers in an effort to aid Iran.

On November 28, 2024 at Woolwich Crown Court, former British Army soldier Daniel Khalife, 23, was found guilty of gathering classified information to Iranian agents.

Khalife had collated and passed on classified documents, military communications, and information about soldiers to Iranian authorities from 2019 to 2021.

The former army network engineer sparked a nationwide manhunt in September, 2023, when he broke out of prison while he was awaiting trial over the espionage offences.

Soldier Daniel Khalife told a court he escaped from prison to show British intelligence serivces ‘what a foolish idea it was having someone of my skillset’ behind bars

Jurors were shown CCTV of the dramatic moment British soldier Daniel Khalife escaped from prison while clinging to the bottom of the lorry

He escaped from Wandsworth Prison during a kitchen duty shift, which allowed him to stowaway under a food delivery lorry.

During the trial last year, Khalife’s lawyer claimed that the espionage to aid Iran had been more ‘Scooby-Doo’ than ‘007’.

But in February of this year, Khalife was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his spying offences, with a further two years and three months to be served consecutively for his prison escape.

Previous espionage convictions over the last decade include a security guard who sent Russia secret documents from the British Embassy in Berlin and a defence worker who sent highly sensitive information about a UK missile system to a variety of contacts.

Former security guard David Ballantyne Smith was imprisoned for 13 years over his treachery in Berlin in February, 2023.

Simon Finch, who had worked at defence firms BAE Systems and QinetiQ, was sentenced to eight years in prison after a hearing in March 2021.

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