The Bulgarians, accused of espionage in favor of Russia, followed Ukrainian servicemen at an American base in Germany, prosecutors said today at a court session in the case in London, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
The Ukrainians are believed to have been trained in the handling of strategic air defense systems designed to defend against a Russian invasion, the agency added.
Bulgarian citizens Katrin Ivanova (aged 33), Vanya Gaberova (aged 30) and Tihomir Ivanchev (aged 39) are accused of belonging to a sophisticated spy network led by a Russian agent named Jan Marsalek, which is planned six operations from Great Britain, notes Reuters.
Prosecutors said the three - along with Orlin Rusev and Biser Djambazov, who have admitted to being part of the conspiracy - had been following journalists and planning a mock protest outside the Kazakh embassy in London.
Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev are accused of acting on the instructions of Rusev, who in turn received instructions from Marsalek, an Austrian citizen who used the false name Rupert Tietz and worked as the chief operating officer of the bankrupt company for electronic payments "Wirecard".
Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev, who are facing the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (known as the Old Bailey), deny the charges, according to Reuters. Prosecutor Alison Morgan told jurors today that Marsalek tasked Rusev with monitoring an American military base in the German city of Stuttgart, an operation that was terminated after the defendants were arrested.
Morgan said Marsalek thought the base was being used to train Ukrainian military personnel in the handling of Patriot air defense systems.
The observation was carried out in October and November 2022. "at an extremely decisive moment from the point of view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine," noted the prosecutor, quoted by Reuters.
Ivanova traveled to Germany from London with an alleged plan to monitor the base, also using a mobile phone tracking device. Prosecutor Morgan explained that the information gathered may have served to track servicemen sent to train how to use surface-to-air missiles in Ukraine.
"This could not be more serious in terms of the type of information they were trying to gather so that other people would be aware of exactly where these Ukrainian servicemen would be sent in the future," she said.
Prosecutors have already told jurors that members of this alleged spy network watched Hristo Grozev, who works for the Bellingcat media outlet, the editor-in-chief of the Insider media outlet. Roman Dobrokhotov and the Russian dissident Kiril Kachur.
Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev deny charges of conspiring to collect information that would benefit an enemy between August 2020. and February 2024. In addition, Ivanova denies using false identity documents.
The trial is expected to last until February, according to Reuters.