Group of Russian spies exposed in Britain

A group of people who, according to law enforcement officials, were collecting intelligence in favor of Russia was exposed in the UK. It is about six people, all of whom are from Bulgaria.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine regarding Sky News.

In total, there are four men and two women who are accused of conspiracy to commit espionage and "collecting information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy," in particular in the period from August 2020 to February 2023, the police said.

Scotland Yard added that this information was allegedly collected for "purposes prejudicial to the security and interests of the state."

Recently, the sixth defendant, Bulgarian citizen Tikhomir Ivanov Ivanchev, was charged with allegedly spying for Russia.

He lived in Ecton, west London. The man was taken into custody and is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. The 37-year-old was arrested on February 7 as part of an ongoing investigation led by the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorism Command.

It is also noted that he was released on bail and charged on Tuesday.

"A sixth suspect has been identified and arrested as a result of the investigation following the previous five arrests in this investigation and charges have been laid in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service," said Dominic Murphy, who heads the counter-terrorism unit.

The other defendants - three men and two women - are accused of conspiring to gather information that would be useful to the enemy between August 2020 and February 2023, and have previously appeared in the Old Bailey.

They are Orlin Rusev, 46, Bizer Dzhambazov, 42, Katrin Ivanova, 32, Ivan Stoyanov, 32, and Vanya Gaberova, 29.

Their trial is expected to last four months. It is scheduled to begin in October.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 28/02/2024