Russian spies dubbed 'The Brunette Twins' were not manipulated into spying

Two glamorous spies known as 'The Brunette Twins' were not tricked into spying for Russia by the man who was having an affair with both of them, a court has heard.

Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Katrin Ivanova, 33, were part of a sophisticated Russian espionage ring controlled from a guest house in Great Yarmouth.

Bulgarian nationals Ivanova and Gaberova, as well as Tihomir Ivanchev, were found guilty after one of the biggest investigations of its kind.

Ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, and Bizer Dzhambazov, 43, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to spy for Vladimir Putin.

Ivan Stoyanov, 33, will also be sentenced for being part of the network.

Mr Justice Hilliard is due to sentence the six spies next Monday. Ivanova and Stoyanov appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey today while the other defendants appeared via prison video link.

Roussev referred to Ivanova and Gaberova as 'The Brunette Twins' and used them to try and set honeytraps for their victims. Both women claimed at trial they were lied to and manipulated by Dzhambazov.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan, KC, said: "Ms Ivanova and Gaberova and to some extent Mr Ivanchev continue to place great empathises on what is suggested to be the direction and manipulation of Mr Dzhambazov.

"We do not accept the characterisation of the positions of Ms Ivanova and Gaberova that persist in the defence submissions. We submit that the evidence shows them to have acted under their own volition and independently."

She said the description of Dzhambazov as someone who "manipulated and lied extensively to the two female defendants" is not accepted.

"It is undoubtedly the case he lied to both female defendants about the relationship issues but in terms of this conspiracy the lies are not accepted."

She said they prioritised the surveillance operations over their relationship issues. Roussev ran multiple operations against targets of interest to the Russian state.

Ms Morgan said before his guilty plea Roussev originally claimed he was working for the benefit of Israel and other non-enemy states rather than Russia.

She said Stoyanov played a far less significant role than the other defendants in the surveillance operations and there was less evidence of his knowledge about Russia's involvement.

Counter-terrorism police and MI5 were able to smash the network - controlled by one of Europe's most wanted men - Jan Marsalek - from Moscow - after Roussev kept tens of thousands of messages containing instructions, targets, surveillance logs and extraordinary amounts of detail about their plots.

This "treasure trove" led to the convictions of Ivanova, 33, Gaberova, 30, and Ivanchev, 39.

Former Wirecard chief Marsalek, who ran the network for at least eight years, acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and ringleader Roussev, 47, in Great Yarmouth who received more than 200,000 euros (over £165,600) to fund the spying activities.

He deployed the Minions with second-in-command Dzhambazov who was in a love triangle with two of the team - his partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova, jurors heard.

The spies were ordered to carry out surveillance of an American military base in Germany, which they believed was being used for training Ukrainian troops on Patriot missiles following Russia's invasion.

They planned to use international mobile subscriber identity or "IMSI" catchers to identify soldiers' mobile phones on the airbase so their movements could be tracked when they later served in Ukraine, the court was told.

This would have allowed the Kremlin's forces to pinpoint their locations and order artillery attacks on Ukrainians on the battlefield.

They also plotted to kidnap journalists on UK soil, planned fake attacks against Kazakhstan's embassy in London so Putin's secret services could come to the rescue and sell military equipment to China, the Old Bailey heard.

When police moved to arrest the spies in February 2023, they found Dzhambazov naked in bed with his lover Gaberova rather than at home with Ivanova.

Dzhambazov, who worked with ringleader Orlin Roussev to set tasks for other members of the network, faked having a brain tumour to sneak out from Ivanova to have sex with Gaberova.

And Gaberova's ex-boyfriend, Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, was also implicated in one of the biggest spying investigations in decades.

He helped fund her beauty parlour business, Pretty Woman, in Acton, west London. She was described as the "Queen of Lashes" and won awards for her work on eyelashes, the court heard.

But Gaberova told the Old Bailey how she was swept off her feet by Dzhambazov after spending four nights with him in Valencia, Spain, on a surveillance mission targeting journalist Christo Grozev.

And Ivanova broke down in tears in court after discovering Dzhambazov, "betrayed" her by having an 18-month affair with her fellow honeytrap.

Ivanova, who lived with Dzhambazov in Harrow, northwest London, said: "There was another man and Mr Dzhambazov knew and that is why when I found out he was in a relationship with Vanya, I do not understand. We have an open sexual relationship."

For Roussev and Jan Marsalek - the controlling agent in Moscow, Gaberova and Ivanova, dubbed "minions", were tools that could be exploited.

Marsalek and Roussev praised beauty salon manager Gaberova as "very assertive and strongly independent". The Old Bailey was told Mr Roussev called her a "true sexy b----".

They said she could be used as part of a honeytrap operation to target journalist Grozev, an investigative journalist who poisoned double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

As part of the honeytrap operation, Roussev suggested making a recording for a pornography website, saying Gaberova was "red hot" and a "swinger too".

"They clearly considered that [Ms Gaberova] would be capable of pulling off a honeytrap operation without the risk that she would fall in love with [Mr Grozev]," said prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.

Gaberova told jurors she saw the surveillance missions as holidays with the "man of her dreams" who she believed was an Interpol agent.

Dzhambazov had told Gaberova he had a brain tumour and was receiving treatment for it throughout their relationship, the Old Bailey has heard.

The sentencing hearing continues.