LONDON — A Bulgarian man who was the ringleader of a Russian spy ring within the U.Okay. was sentenced Monday to greater than 10 years in jail.
Orlin Roussev, 47, headed up a bunch of 5 fellow Bulgarians who prosecutors stated put lives at risk as they carried out operations within the U.Okay., Germany Austria, Spain and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023 on behalf of Russian intelligence.
The group focused reporters, diplomats and Ukrainian troops and mentioned kidnapping or killing Kremlin opponents.
Cmdr. Dominic Murphy, counterterrorism chief at London’s Metropolitan Police, stated the group performed “industrial-scale espionage on behalf of Russia.”
Roussev was the primary of the 5 to be sentenced within the Central Legal Court docket. The opposite sentencings had been to comply with Monday afternoon.
Roussev, alongside together with his lieutenant Biser Dzhambazov, 44, pleaded responsible to espionage costs and having false id paperwork. Ivan Stoyanov, 33, a combined martial arts fighter, admitted to spying for Russia.
Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, had been convicted by a jury in March of conspiring to spy for an enemy state.