Ringleader in Russian spy ring gets more than 10 years in UK prison

A Bulgarian man who was the ringleader of a Russian spy ring in the U.K. has been sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison

LONDON -- A Bulgarian man who was the ringleader of a Russian spy ring in the U.K. was sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison.

Orlin Roussev, 47, headed up a group of five fellow Bulgarians who prosecutors said put lives in danger as they carried out operations in the U.K., Germany Austria, Spain and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023 on behalf of Russian intelligence.

The group targeted reporters, diplomats and Ukrainian troops and discussed kidnapping or killing Kremlin opponents.

Cmdr. Dominic Murphy, counterterrorism chief at London’s Metropolitan Police, said the group conducted “industrial-scale espionage on behalf of Russia.”

Roussev was the first of the five to be sentenced in the Central Criminal Court. The other sentencings were to follow Monday afternoon.

Roussev, along with his lieutenant Biser Dzhambazov, 44, pleaded guilty to espionage charges and having false identity documents. Ivan Stoyanov, 33, a mixed martial arts fighter, admitted to spying for Russia.

Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were convicted by a jury in March of conspiring to spy for an enemy state.

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