Sixth person in court charged with spying for Russia in UK

A sixth member of a suspected Russian spy ring has appeared in court accused of conspiracy to conduct espionage in the UK after an investigation by counter-terror police.

Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 38, has been charged with conspiring to collect information which could be harmful to the “safety and interest of the state” on behalf of Russia.

The Bulgarian national, of Acton, west London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, where he was denied bail and remanded in custody after entering no plea.

Ivanchev, who will next appear at the Old Bailey on March 15, is accused of being part of an organised network conducting surveillance against several identities or locations in order to assist the Russian state in carrying out hostile interference, the court heard.

He was arrested on February 7 as part of an investigation led by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.

It means there are now active criminal cases against six Bulgarians.

The other defendants, three men and two women, who all have addresses in the UK, will stand trial in October accused of conspiring to gather information that would be useful to an enemy between August 2020 and February 2023.

They are Orlin Roussev, 46, Bizer Dzhambazov, 42, Katrin Ivanova, 32, Ivan Stoyanov, 32, and Vanya Gaberova, 29.

Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova are also charged with possession of false identity documents with improper intention under section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010.