The three Bulgarian citizens allegedly worked for the Russian security services and were accused of possessing personal documents with “improper intent”.
Three suspected Russian spies have been arrested and charged in a major UK national security investigation – Discover BBC. The defendants are Bulgarian citizens and were arrested in February.
The three accused – Orlin Rousseff, Pezr Dzhambazov and Catherine Ivanova – were arrested by anti-terrorism investigators in accordance with the Official Secrets Act. They are suspected of working for Russian intelligence.
They are accused of possessing identity documents “with indecent intent” knowing that they were forged. The documents include British, Bulgarian, French, Italian, Spanish, Croatian, Slovenian, Greek and Czech passports, identity cards and other documents.
The trio lived in the UK for several years, working various jobs and living in a number of suburban properties. Rousseff has had an active business relationship with Russia, moving to the island nation in 2009 and spending three years as a financial services technician. Zambazov works as a driver for hospitals, while Ivanova works as a laboratory assistant for a healthcare company (the two are allegedly a couple).
British counter-terrorism officers have also spoken publicly about spending more time investigating threats to the state and suspected espionage, particularly in relation to Russia. Their concern has also been heightened by a number of high-profile incidents in recent years involving Russian intelligence operations in the UK.