Three arrested in Russian espionage investigation face charges in UK
London: Three Bulgarian citizens living in England who were arrested in February on suspicion of espionage offences have been charged with possessing false identity documents, the Metropolitan Police said Tuesday.
Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 42, and Katrin Ivanova, 32, were taken into custody after they appeared last month in the Central Criminal Court in London.
Suspects: (from left) Katrin Ivanova, Orlin Roussev and Bizer Dzhambazov.
The trio is suspected of working for Russian security services, British media reported.
The charges allege the three had false documents among 34 pieces of identification in their possession. The BBC said documents, including passports and identity cards, were from the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece and the Czech Republic.
Counter-terrorism detectives arrested them with two others on suspicion of an offence under the Official Secrets Act 1911, which criminalises spying. That investigation continues.
The other two arrested, a 31-year-old man and 29-year-old woman, both from London, were released on bail and are due in court next month.
No pleas have been entered for the three people charged. Their next court date has not been set.
The BBC said the three had been living in the UK for years.
Britain has been sharpening its focus on external security threats and last month it passed a new national security law, aiming to deter espionage and foreign interference with updated tools and criminal provisions.
The government labelled Russia “the most acute threat” to its security when the law was passed.
Police have charged three Russians, who they say are GRU military intelligence officers, with the 2018 attempt to murder former double agent Sergei Skripal with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok. Two were charged in 2018 and the third in 2021.
Last year, Britain’s domestic spy chief said more than 400 suspected Russian spies had been expelled from Europe.
Britain has also been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine since the Russian invasion last year and has imposed a range of sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs.
AP, Reuters
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