Spying, monitoring Kremlin opponents, plans for kidnappings and murders - Bulgarians are also involved in the espionage scandal surrounding Jan Marsalek, and some traces even lead to the embassy in Vienna. Alexander Detev tells the story.
When Tsveti Doncheva moved to Vienna in 2014 to help her mother, she could hardly have suspected that 12 years later she would have to stand trial. And this is part of the largest spy trial in Austria since World War II, which will begin on January 22, 2026.
For eight years, authorities in Austria, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and the United States have been investigating the network of Russian spies led by perhaps Vladimir Putin's most valuable spy cadre in Europe - the founder of Wirecard Jan Marsalek. And they have come across a number of his partners, employees and "useful idiots", as Tsveti herself describes herself to the Austrian authorities.
Who are they? The case in Vienna focuses on the figure of Egisto Ott - a former employee of the services in Austria, accused of being an associate of Marsalek, who helped with spying, stealing documents, laptops, phones, technology and giving bribes. But how did the authorities get to such details of the activities of Marsalek and Egisto Ott? A great merit goes to the negligence of another Bulgarian - Orlin Rusev.
221 phones, 258 hard drives and many chats
221 phones, 495 SIM cards and tens of thousands of chat messages - this is what the English authorities found in Orlin Rusev's home when they detained him in London in February 2023. Although he deals with technology, Rusev apparently approaches his communication with Marsalek quite carelessly and does not delete the messages between them. Messages that even discuss plans for kidnappings and murders - from Austria to Montenegro.
The Austrian publication “Profil“ has the chats, from which it becomes clear that Jan Marsalek worked for years for the Russian Federal Security Service FSB, as well as for the military intelligence GRU. Rusev himself had responsible tasks - for example, to supply Marsalek with SINA laptops in 2021 - encrypted devices that guarantee the security of information even in compromised networks. Marsalek tells Rusev in chats that Russia does not have access to such technologies due to sanctions. Rusev initially claimed that he would try to arrange them through his contacts in Bulgaria. Contacts through which, according to “Profil“, he also arranged a fake Bulgarian passport for Marsalek. DW sent a request to the Ministry of Interior and the National Security Agency whether they had information about the case, but by the time of publishing this text, he had not received a response.
In the end, the devices were arranged by the former spokesman for the Austrian far-right Freedom Party, Alexander Surovets, who handed them over to Egisto Ott. From there, they were to be handed over to Bulgarian agents, from where they would reach Istanbul and, respectively, Moscow. The laptops were handed over to an apartment belonging to Ott's son-in-law in Vienna's 21st district. It was there that three phones stolen from high-ranking officials of the Austrian Interior Ministry were handed over a few months earlier, and which Ott turned over to the Russian FSB.
And do you know who was at the scene of the handover in both cases? Tsveti Doncheva, of course.
Tsveti Doncheva and Vanya Gaberova - agents or "useful idiots"?
It is probably strange to many how Tsveti Doncheva, who in Vienna mainly supports herself on social benefits and cleaning apartments, turns out to be such a key figure in this espionage scheme? The key is in vanity. In Bulgaria, Doncheva befriends Vanya Gaberova, who is a manicurist in a beauty salon. Vanya later goes to live in London, where she becomes Biser Dzhambazov's girlfriend. Dzhambazov, on the other hand, started working… for Orlin Rusev. They later recruited Tsveti Doncheva. She told the Austrian authorities different versions of how it happened - they lied to her that it was about student projects, then that they worked for Interpol.
However it happened, Doncheva apparently ended up in Dzhambazov's car while he was traveling to the apartment of Egisto Ott's brother-in-law. She told the authorities in Austria that he explained to her that they were meeting with fellow police officers from Vienna. Doncheva confirms that there was money in the car, which, according to her friend's partner, was intended "for the Austrian police". But for whom?
Tsveti Doncheva's statements create a serious problem for Egisto Ott, notes the editor-in-chief of “Profile“ Anna Thalhammer. Because the investigators in Vienna found “little“ discrepancy between his income and the cash he has. The “Small” discrepancy - 396,162 euros and 21 cents.
The group in Vienna was given a number of tasks - journalists and representatives of the services were to be monitored, and some of their equipment was to be stolen. Among the targets were the head of intelligence Omar Hadjavi-Pirkner, the investigative journalist Hristo Grozev and Talhammer herself. Tsveti Doncheva monitored and recorded the editor-in-chief of “Profil“. Before the Austrian authorities, the Bulgarian tried to explain that she did not know exactly what she was supposed to do, but her story often contained contradictions, for which she will now be brought to trial.
Attacks against Hristo Grozev
However, Hristo Grozev seems to have been the main target. He was monitored for months, the group broke into his apartment, stole a laptop, and during one of his trips, an external hard drive also disappeared. In the chats between Marsalek and Rusev, they even discussed his potential poisoning with “Novichok“. These types of conversations are common between the two. In September 2021, they discussed the kidnapping and even murder of a former Russian investigator in Montenegro, as the “Financial Times“ reported a few months ago. Rusev offers to rent a private jet to take him to Moscow. And even offers his father to pilot it. “That's sexy”, Marsalek replies.
In order to be able to monitor the flights of people like Grozev, Marsalek and Rusev even founded a travel agency in Bulgaria. Apparently with the help of front persons, since Rusev has a stake in only one company in the country - “May Total“ TV OOD, which deals with television, multimedia and software, a DW investigation shows. Marsalek and Russev start working with Tsvetelina Gencheva - an employee of the ground operator at the Sofia airport.
Meanwhile, in Vienna, Tsveti Doncheva and her colleagues rent an apartment opposite Grozev's. They even bribe a courier to collect information.
A vicious criminal scheme that has spread its tentacles everywhere
The Austrian authorities are sparing no effort to unravel this story. Because they have serious reasons to believe that other people are involved in it, including those who still work in the country's services. According to the investigation, so far 10 people have been involved in the theft of equipment alone - the identities of only three of them have been confirmed.
At the same time, the chats between Russev and Marsalek also talk about recruiting an employee of the Bulgarian embassy in Austria. Apparently, such an employee has been found, but the woman's identity has not yet been revealed. The embassy is "very uncooperative" and it is assumed that there is "Russian infiltration" in it, the Austrian authorities said in a statement to "Profil". DW also tried to ask questions of the Bulgarian embassy in Vienna. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted us and assured that they would check the case.
A system that includes high-ranking state officials, sources from the secret services, police, diplomats and criminals - the "Marsalek" case is one of the biggest challenges facing European services and a clear attestation of the risks that Europe faces today. But why are so many people willing to betray their country and its interests?
Own benefit over the common good
“There are many people who put their own benefit over the common good - that in itself is not unusual. But how great the criminal potential is in this case and how widespread it is in the state apparatus is amazing“, commented Anna Thalhammer to DW. “Especially when analyzing the chats about Bulgaria, it becomes clear that the group had excellent connections with the secret services, ministries, the judiciary, where people who violate the rules for money work. Obviously, this is also a problem of state control, which turns a blind eye instead of dealing with the problem.“
In his chats with Marsalek, Orlin Rusev boasts about his contacts in Bulgarian institutions and that with enough funds he can afford everything. “This is why people in Bulgaria are taking to the streets, and with full right. Our task as journalists: to see where others turn a blind eye“, summarizes the editor-in-chief of “Profil“.