Russian espionage boss in Great Britain sentenced to 11 years in prison

Russian espionage boss in Great Britain sentenced to 11 years in prison

A leading head of a Russian espionagering based in Great Britain was sentenced to almost 11 years in prison by a London court on Monday, while his five team members have to serve in prison for a total of about 40 years. Orlin Roussev, 47, said guilty before the process, because of the conspiracy for spying for Russia. The police had found thousands of news between him and the fleeting Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek, who headed the group of Bulgarian citizens from abroad.

judgment and punishments

Richter Nicholas Hilliard sentenced Roussev to 10 years and 8 months in prison and explained that the operations he had headed were a serious risk of the National Security of Great Britain. Roussev is one of six Bulgarians who were convicted of their role in the team headed by Marsalek. This team carried out monitoring of journalists, dissidents and Ukrainian soldiers who were trained at a US military base in Germany.

convictions of the team members

In March, three members of the group were found to be guilty in a process. Roussev, his deputy Bizer Dzhambazov (44) and a third man, Ivan Stoyanov (33), announced himself guilty last year. Dzhambazov received a penalty of 10 years and 2 months, while his former partner Katrin Ivanova (33) was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months. Vanya Gaberova (30) was sentenced to 8 years in prison, minus a period of 1 year and 3 months, which she had already spent in custody. Your former partner Tihomir Ivanchev (39) was also sentenced to 8 years. Stoyanov received a penalty of 6 years and 4 months, with deduction of time already served.

motivations and reactions

The public prosecutor found that the group did not work directly for the Russian secret service and was mainly motivated by financial incentives. The Russian embassy in London did not comment on the case, although the Kremlin has always rejected such allegations of espionage. Relations between Great Britain and Russia have been at the lowest level since the end of the Cold War since the end of the Ukraine War, with Great Britain accusing Russia of causing chaos in Europe.

espionage almost on an industrial scale

The public prosecutor said that the activities of the espionagering were a serious threat to the UK National Security. The police reported that the group spied "almost on an industrial scale". One of her operations was a plan to collect mobile phone signals on the patch barracks, a US base near Stuttgart, where Ukrainian troops probably trained to use patriot rockets.

secret communication and plans

The case focused on thousands of news between Marsalek and Roussev, which contained immature plans and jokes about Russian operations on British soil, including the poisoning of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. In July 2022, Marsalek Roussev sent a selfie of itself in full military fighting with a "Z" logo, the Russian military leadership than Symbol of her invasion in Ukraine was accepted.

discussions about global events

The two men repeatedly spoke about the Russian military secret service organization GRU and other security services. They discussed plans for the delivery of drones to Russia and weapons to Cameroon and expressed their admiration for Elon Musk. In addition, Marsalek and Roussev discussed the organization of an air bridge from Kabul in 2021 when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.