A group of Bulgarians, accused of espionage in favor of Russia, acted against a journalist from the "Belingkat" media. and tried to use sexual bait against him through "Facebook", the British prosecutor's office said in court today, as quoted by Reuters.
Thirty-three-year-old Katrin Ivanova, 30-year-old Vanya Gaberova and 39-year-old Tihomir Ivanchev are accused of being part of a spy network led by Russian agent Jan Marsalek that targeted various people, including dissidents .
Prosecutors say Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev, along with two men, Orlin Rusev and Biser Djambazov, spied on a US military base in Germany where Ukrainian soldiers were being trained.
Rusev and Dzhambazov have admitted that they were part of a spy network, and Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev reject the accusations.
At a court hearing today in a London court, prosecutor Alison Morgan said that the group of Bulgarians followed the Bulgarian journalist Hristo Grozev, who works for "Bellingkat", in 2021.
Grozev was the leading investigative journalist of "Bellingkat" in the investigation of the poisoning in 2018 of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury.
Morgan said Gaberova sent Grozev a Facebook friend request as part of an effort to gather information about him. These actions were orchestrated by Marsalek and Rusev.
"Grozev seems seduced and in love with Vanya. He began to like her pictures. We can move slowly to romance," Rusev says in a message he sent to Marsalek shortly after Grozev accepted the friendship invitation.
Marsalek expressed his concerns about the possibility of Gaberova falling in love with Grozev, but Rusev reassured him that she has the necessary qualities for her task.
The prosecutor also said that Ivanova, Gaberova and Djambazov followed Grozev to a hotel in Valencia, and Gaberova photographed him with the founder of "Bellingkat" Elliott Higgins.
At the start of the trial last week, Morgan said the group was paid to spy and compile detailed reports.
They operated under the direction of Rusev, who in turn received orders from Marsalek.
Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev deny the charge of conspiracy to collect valuable information for the period from August 2020 to February 2023. In addition, Ivanova rejects the accusation that she had false identity documents.
The case against the Bulgarians is expected to last until February.