Trial set for four Londoners accused of Russia spy plot

Five Bulgarians accused of spying and carrying out surveillance for the Russian state will go on trial next autumn.

The three men and two women are accused of conspiring to gather information that would be useful to an enemy between August 2020 and February this year.

Four of the five are based in London. Bizer Dzhambazov, 42, of High Road, Harrow, north-west London and Katrin Ivanova, 32, are both from Harrow in North London. Ivan Stoyanov, 31, lives in Greenford in west London; and Vanya Gaberova, 29, in Churchfield Road, Acton, north-west London.

45 year-old Orlin Roussev is alsp a defendant in the same trial, but is from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.

Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova are also charged with possession of false identity documents with improper intention under section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010.

At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker formally joined the identity documents and spying conspiracy cases and set a trial for October 28 next year.

The trial will be heard by a High Court judge with an estimated time of four months.

The defendants, who all have EU settled status, were not asked to enter pleas as they appeared by video link from various prisons.

They were remanded into custody ahead of the next hearing in the case on March 22.

Previously, the court has heard the defendants were arrested in February this year for alleged offences contrary to the Official Secrets Act.

They are alleged to be part of a “network” conducting surveillance on behalf of the Russian state.

The court was told that a large part took place abroad but co-ordination took place in the UK.

The defendants are accused of conspiring to collect information with “another person known as Jan Marsalek and others unknown”.