Extension | Three Bulgarian citizens accused of spying for Russia in the UK
Three alleged Russian spies, all Bulgarian citizens, were arrested last February in the United Kingdom as part of a broad national security investigation, the BBC revealed on Tuesday.
The three, in police custody since February, have been identified as Orlin Roussev, 45; Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, and Katrin Ivanova, 31, who had been living in the country for several years. The detainees, who allegedly worked for the Russian secret services, are accused of carrying identity documents with “undue intent”, knowing that they were false.
Documents include passports, identity cards and other documents from the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece and the Czech Republic.
The three, according to the BBC, were arrested under the Official Secrets Act by detectives from the anti-terrorism unit of the London Metropolitan Police, better known as Scotland Yard, which has national police responsibility for espionage.
Roussev was domiciled in Norfolk County, eastern England, while the other two lived in the Harrow neighborhood, northwest of the British capital. Roussev entered the UK in 2009 and spent several years working in financial services, while Dzhambazov worked for hospitals and Ivanova was a lab assistant.
The three are expected to stand trial at London’s Old Bailey Criminal Court next January. This case follows other operations by Russian secret services in recent years on British soil.
In 2018, Russian agents attempted to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Julia, at their home in the southern English city of Salisbury, while in 2006 former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in the British capital. . (EFE)
