{"id":346,"date":"2025-03-08T11:19:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T12:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=346"},"modified":"2025-03-11T23:05:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T23:05:37","slug":"putin-has-planted-more-russian-spies-in-britain-after-gang-caught-at-beach-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/08\/putin-has-planted-more-russian-spies-in-britain-after-gang-caught-at-beach-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin has \u2018planted more Russian spies in Britain\u2019 after gang caught at beach house"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Russian spy ring convicted yesterday were not alone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A web of Russian spy cells under Putin\u2019s command could be operating in Britain, a counter-terror chief has warned.<\/p>\n

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police<\/a> Counter Terrorism unit, has said there is a growing threat of Russia<\/a> using criminal proxies to spy on British soil.<\/p>\n

The warning comes as six Bulgarians were convicted yesterday of spying for the Kremlin.<\/p>\n

The Great Yarmouth-based ring, dubbed \u2018the Minions\u2019, received orders from Russian intelligence services and conducted spying on an \u2018industrial scale\u2019.<\/p>\n

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class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>For three years the group <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/07\/spy-ring-dubbed-the-minions-guilty-spying-russia-uk-beach-house-22689207\/\">plotted to kidnap and murder<\/a> critics of Vladimir Putin and spied on a US airbase in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>Scotland Yard copper Murphy has revealed this \u2018sophisticated\u2019 espionage cell are not alone.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u2018The reality is this won\u2019t be the only activity Russia is conducting here in the UK and we have seen other disruptions here in recent months.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018As the UK becomes a more hostile environment as a result of our work we will see them increasingly use proxies to conduct their activities.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Within counter-terrorism policing we are seeing more than 20% of our demand now coming from threat posed from foreign states to our national security so this is an ever growing challenge for us.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Bulgarians Katrin Ivanova, 33,\u00a0Vanya\u00a0Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were found guilty at the Old Bailey yesterday over one of the \u2018largest and most complex\u2019 enemy operations ever discovered in the UK.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"972\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22692973 lazyload\" alt=\"An undated Metropolitan Police handout photo of a Coca Cola bottle fitted with a video camera, in London, Britain. Three Bulgarian nationals are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of being part of a Russian spy ring. Metropolitan Police\/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_242908885-61bd.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>A Coca Cola bottle fitted with a video camera used by Bulgarian spies acting on behalf of Russia (Picture: via REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The ring ran operations dating back to August 2020 and hid listening devices inside everyday items like a rock, men\u2019s ties and a Coke bottle.<\/p>\n<p>They plotted to deploy a \u2018true sexy b****\u2019 honeytrap to ruin the reputation of a Bellingcat investigative journalist Christo Grozev in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Operatives stalked Grozev across Vienna, Valencia and Montenegro.<\/p>\n<p>Another journalist targeted in November 2022 was Roman Dobrokhotov, founder of The Insider, who believes orderes were coming directly from the Russian President himself.<\/p>\n<p>Dobrokhotov told the BBC: I\u201dm very lucky to be alive actually.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I think assassination was one of the options that they reviewed.\u2019<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"768\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22689571 lazyload\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_242907047-dc82-e1741361601989.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Biser Dzhambazov and Vanya Gaberova (left) were part of the spy ring and lovers behind Katrin Ivanova\u2019s back (Picture: Metropolitan Police\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018In this dictatorship, you would never take responsibility on your own to do such a political stuff. You will always have a direct order from the president.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The spy cell was ultimately brought down by raids on properties in London and ringleader Orlin Roussev\u2019s address in Great Yarmouth in February 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Cops discovered a treasure trove of hi-tech spyware, including a \u00a3120,000 device for intercepting mobile phone numbers, 11 drones, and 75 fake passports.<\/p>\n<p>The groups director is said to be alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian businessman on Interpol\u2019s wanted list.<\/p>\n<p>Kremlin spies have wrecked havoc on British soil before.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"364\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22526365 lazyload\" alt=\"File photo dated 08\/03\/18 of personnel in hazmat suits working to secure a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, were found critically ill by exposure to Novichok nerve agent. A third Russian spy faces charges of attempted murder over the Salisbury Novichok poisonings. Issue date: Tuesday September 21, 2021. PA Photo. Denis Sergeev, who used the alias Sergey Fedotov while in the UK, faces a string of charges including trying to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and ex-police officer Nick Bailey. See PA Story POLICE Salisbury. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews\/PA Wire\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_141022160-7876.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The Salisbury poisonings in 2018 revealed the operations of Russian spies in the UK<br \/> (Picture: PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Russian operatives are believed to be behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/10\/20\/russian-ambassador-laughs-notion-kremlin-behind-salisbury-poisoning-21830367\/\">deadly Salisbury poisonings<\/a> in July 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The poisonings were a botched attempt to kill former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia at a restaurant in the city.<\/p>\n<p>Two suspects are believed to have carried out the attempt using the deadly nerve agent Novichok, which was concealed in a perfume bottle.<\/p>\n<p>Russian agents also posed a huge threats to British national security during the Cold War.<\/p>\n<p>The Cambridge Five were a group of Briish spies recruited by the Soviet Union (now Russia) at Cambridge University in the 1930s.<\/p>\n<p>They later infiltrated high-ranking positions in British intelligence and government.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"885\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22352195 lazyload\" alt=\"circa 1975: Four members of the 'Cambridge Five', graduates of Trinity College, Cambridge, who passed information from British Intelligence to the Soviet Union in the 1940s and 1950s. Clockwise from top left, Anthony Blunt (1907 - 1983), Donald Duart Maclean (1913 - 1983), Kim Philby (1912 - 1988) and Guy Burgess (1911 - 1963). (Photo by Keystone\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_235862317-cd5b.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Four members of the Cambridge Five who infiltrated British politics and diplomacy, with Kim Philby (bottom right) (Photo by Keystone\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2022\/12\/10\/a-spy-among-friends-itvx-what-happened-to-kim-philby-17915592\/\">Kim Philby was the most famous of them all<\/a>. The senior MI6 officer passed on highly sensitive information for years before defecting to the Soviet Union in 1963.<\/p>\n<p>Met commander Murphy pledged that security services would not take their \u2018eye off the ball\u2019 in fighting underground Russian spy networks in the UK today.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u2018We are committed to working closely with intelligence agencies in this country and our international partners to disrupt activity by foreign states.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We have been working hard to make the UK a hostile working operating environment for these countries.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This is an example of that because this group were contracted to operate on behalf of Russian intelligence services because this is a hostile environment for them to operate in directly here.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong><strong><strong>Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:webnews@metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this, <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Russian spy ring convicted yesterday were not alone A web of Russian spy cells under Putin\u2019s command could be operating in Britain, a counter-terror chief has warned. Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism unit, has said there is a growing threat of Russia using criminal proxies to spy on British […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russia-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions\/353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}