Russian espionage chief in UK sentenced to almost 11 years in prison

Russian espionage chief in UK sentenced to almost 11 years in prison

A British court sentenced the leader of a Russian espionagering based in Great Britain on Monday to almost 11 years in prison. His five team members were sentenced to around 40 years in prison. The public prosecutor had previously found that this group carried out monitoring activities for the Kremlin.

Details for the condemnation of Orlin Roussev

The 47-year-old Roussev admitted a conspiracy in favor of Russia before the process. The police had found thousands of news between him and the fleeting Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek, who headed the group from Bulgaria. Judge Nicholas Hilliard condemned Roussev at 10 years and 8 months in prison and emphasized that the operations he led were a serious threat to the national security of Great Britain.

The role of the other accused

ROUSSEV is one of six Bulgarians who were convicted of participating in the activities under Marsalek's management. These carried out monitoring measures against journalists, dissidents and Ukrainian soldiers who were trained at a US military location in Germany. In March, three members of the group had been spoken after a trial, while Roussev, his deputy Bizer Dzhambazov (44) and Ivan Stoyanov (33) laid confessions last year.

dzhambazov was sentenced to 10 years and 2 months in prison, Katrin Ivanova (33) received a penalty of 9 years and 8 months. Vanya Gaberova (30) was sentenced to 8 years, of which she has been in custody for 1 year and 3 months. Tihomir Ivanchev (39) also received 8 years, while Stoyanov has to be born for 6 years and 4 months, but are already counted.

Motivation of the spyering

The public prosecutor made it clear that the group did not work directly for Russian secret services, but above all acted out of financial motives. The Russian embassy in London has not yet commented on the case, while the Kremlin has always rejected such allegations of espionage.

The geopolitical context

The relationships between Great Britain and Russia have dropped to a historical low since the beginning of the Ukraine secretary. Great Britain accuses Russia of wanting to trigger chaos in Europe. Marsalek's lawyer in Germany, where he is sought as a former COO of the insolvent payment service provider Wirecard, has not yet commented on the case. His whereabouts are unknown, but it is believed that he is in Russia.

espionage on an industrial scale

The investigators emphasized that the activities of the espionage sing were a serious threat to the UK National Security. The police authority said the group had spy "on an almost industrial scale". A specific example of their operations was the plan to intercept mobile phone signals in the patch barracks, a US base at Stuttgart, on which Ukrainian troops were trained for the use of patriot rockets.

The focus of the investigation was thousands of news between Marsalek and Roussev, which contained half-hearted plans and jokes about Russian operations on British soil, including the poisoning of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. In July 2022, Maralek Roussev sent a selfie in full military fighting with a "Z" logo - a symbol that was accepted by the Russian army as a sign of her invasion in Ukraine.

The two also discussed Russia’s military secret service, planned the delivery of drones to Russia and weapons to Cameroon and expressed their admiration for Elon Musk. In addition, Marsalek and Roussev spoke about the organization of an air bridge from Kabul in 2021 when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.