Five people suspected of spying for Russia are to be charged with conspiracy to conduct espionage following an investigation by the Met.
Orlin Roussev, Bizer Dzhambazov, Katrin Ivanova, Ivan Stoyanov, and Vanya Gaberova will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
The Bulgarian nationals are accused of conspiring to gather information which would be useful to an enemy between August 2020 and February 2023.
The defendants are alleged to have worked in an operational spy cell for the Russian security services and that this work involved conducting surveillance on targets.
They are accused of working on active operations in the UK and Europe and collecting and passing information to the Russian state.
Mr Roussev, 45, is alleged to have run operations from the UK and acted as the link to those who received the intelligence.
Officers who searched properties in London and Norfolk occupied by three of the defendants – Mr Roussev, Mr Dzhambazov, 41, and Ms Ivanova, 31 – found allegedly fake passport and official identity documents for the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.
Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “The CPS has authorised a charge of conspiracy to conduct espionage against three men and two women suspected of spying for Russia.
“The charges follow an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
“Criminal proceedings against the five individuals are active and they each have the right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
“The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.”
