LONDON (AP) — A court in London has heard how three Bulgarian nationals allegedly passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years after carrying out surveillance across Europe on individuals and places of interest to Moscow.
Prosecutors at the at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday claimed Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were part of a spy ring between 2020 and 2023.
It is alleged much of their activity took place across Europe, but that the coordination took place in the U.K. At the time of the alleged offenses, the three defendants lived in London.
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“Between 2020 and 2023 these three defendants together with a number of other people spied for the benefit of Russia,” prosecution lawyer Alison Morgan said. “Their activity caused obvious and inevitable prejudice to the safety and interests of the United Kingdom.”
Morgan said the defendants were “sophisticated” with regard to their alleged surveillance, for which they were paid “significant amounts of money.”
The defendants have denied a charge of conspiracy to spy between Aug. 30, 2020 and Feb. 8 2023. Ivanova has denied a second charge of possession of false identity documents with improper intention
The trial is expected to run until February.
The alleged spy ring also included two more defendants, Orlin Roussev and Biser Dzhambazov, who have pleaded guilty to espionage charges, the court was told.
