Man who spied for Russia in UK ‘discussed killing journalist’ | Global News Avenue

A man who admitted spying for Russia in the UK discussed the possibility of killing a journalist who exposed Russia’s links to the 2018 Salisbury attack, a court heard.

Orlin Roussev allegedly exchanged information in 2021 regarding the targeting of Bulgarian national and Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev.

Rousseff, 46, from Great Yarmouth, and Bissell Dhambazov, 43, from London, both admitted conspiring to commit espionage. Their guilty pleas were first reported Thursday.

Jurors at the Old Bailey heard news of the convictions at the start of a trial involving three other spies.

Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, all from London, Denies charges of conspiring to commit espionage.

Ms Ivanova also denied possessing multiple false identity documents.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the court Rousseff and Djanbazov had admitted being involved in the same espionage operation.

Morgan said the three defendants on trial were accused of spying for the benefit of “Britain’s enemy” Russia between 2020 and 2023.

She added that they attempted to gather information on various targets of particular interest to the Russian government, including people and locations.

Jurors were told that messages between the defendants showed they worked as a “team” under Rousseff, who in turn received instructions from Jan Masalek, who was “a member of Russian intelligence services” middleman”.

The court heard Marsalek was an Austrian national who could be “properly described as a Russian agent”.

The Great Yarmouth hotel occupied by Rousseff was “crammed” with technical equipment used for espionage, the court heard.

During the alleged conspiracy, the gang had 221 mobile phones, 258 hard drives, 495 SIM cards, 33 recording devices, 55 video recording devices, 11 drones, 16 radios and 3 IMSI grabbers – —These are high-tech items that allow the capture and utilization of data from nearby devices being used.

The court heard they also had Wi-Fi listening devices and jammers, as well as 75 passports and identity documents, 55 of which were in other people’s names.

Ms Morgan said the defendants’ “methods were highly sophisticated; they conducted surveillance activities on individuals and locations; they created and used false identities and used advanced technology to obtain information”.

She said the defendants had “obtained images” and “written detailed reports about the targets”.

“Their operations received substantial sums of money. They all knew why they were assigned to conduct these operations. Their activities were carried out for the direct or indirect benefit of Russia,” she said.

Ms Morgan said prosecutors would focus on six “key operations” carried out by the defendants, each of whom played a role in at least two of them. Actions related to the target group or location.

She said there was no dispute that the defendants were engaging in surveillance activities, but jurors must determine why each defendant conducted the surveillance.

Ms Morgan said the evidence showed a “high level of espionage and a high degree of deception”, with all three defendants standing or sitting near “real life targets, real people”, filming them and using sophisticated equipment Capture information.

The prosecutor added that it was envisaged that direct contact with the target, for example, would be used by the female defendant as a “honey trap, as a sexual bait to obtain more information from the target”.

Operation 1

Jurors heard this was directed at Mr Grozev. Among other things, he uncovered Russian links to the 2018 Salisbury attack.

The court heard that in 2021, Jan Marsalek and Roussev exchanged messages discussing their options for Mr Grozev, including placing team members in seats next to him on the plane .

They also discussed the possibility of snatching his laptop and cell phone and taking them to the Russian embassy, ​​burning his property, kidnapping him and taking him to Moscow, or killing him.

Operation 2

The attack allegedly targeted Roman Dobrokhotov in November 2022. He is a Russian investigative journalist and founder of the media organization “The Insider”.

He was arrested and stripped of his passport and had to flee Russia.

Operation 3

The court heard that the attack took place in November 2021 against a man named Bergey Ryskaliyev.

Mr. Liskaliyev is a national of Kazakhstan and a former politician. He fled to England, where he was later granted asylum.

The court heard that Russia had and had clear motives for developing relations with Kazakhstan.

Prosecutors said political dissidents targeting Kazakhstan could cultivate those relationships by providing Kazakhstan what they might consider aid.

Operation 4

Destructive activities against the Kazakh Embassy in London are allegedly planned for September 2022.

The court heard the plan was to stage a demonstration outside the embassy – a “fake protest” – to pretend they had real intelligence about the perpetrators, which they would then pass on to Kazakh intelligence in an attempt to stop their operations . Represent Russia to win the favor of Kazakhstan.

Operation 5

Surveillance at Camp Patch, a U.S. military base in Stuttgart, was allegedly carried out in late 2022.

It is a US military air base where jurors heard the defendant believed Ukrainian troops were being trained in the use of surface-to-air weapons at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Prosecutors said the defendants’ plan was to target Air Force bases using a series of highly sophisticated techniques designed to capture critical intelligence about base personnel.

Operation 6

Jurors were told the scheme targeted a man named Kirill Kachur.

He is a Russian national who spent time in Montenegro and was employed by Russia’s Investigative Committee, but left the country in 2021 and was designated a “foreign agent” by Russia in November 2023.