London court imprisons six Bulgarian nationals for spying for Russia and plotting attacks on journalists Roman Dobrokhotov and Christo Grozev
On Monday, a London court sentenced six Bulgarian nationals to prison on charges of spying for Russia, the BBC reports. Orlin Rusev, the group’s leader, got the longest sentence: 10 years and eight months. The others received prison terms ranging from five to 10 years.
The defendants, acting on orders from Russian authorities, conducted surveillance on investigative journalists Roman Dobrokhotov and Christo Grozev. In their internal communications, the defendants discussed plans to abduct — and even kill — the journalists, though they never acted on these plans.
Additionally, the group conducted several operations on behalf of Russian intelligence services between 2020 and 2023 in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Montenegro.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Rusev had been receiving instructions from Austrian businessman Jan Marsalek, who fled to Russia in 2020.
