3 alleged Russian spies arrested in the UK

London, Aug 15 (EFE).- Three alleged spies from Russia, all Bulgarian citizens, were arrested in the United Kingdom in February as part of a broad investigation into national security, according to the British broadcaster BBC.

The three, in police custody since February, have been identified as Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, and Katrin Ivanova, 31, who had been living in the country for several years.

They were allegedly working for the Russian secret services, and have been accused of carrying fake identity documents with “improper intention.”

The documents include passports, identity cards and other documents from the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece and the Czech Republic.

The three, according to the BBC, were arrested under the Official Secrets Act by detectives from the London Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit, better known as Scotland Yard, which has national policing responsibility for espionage.

Roussev was domiciled in the county of Norfolk, east of England, while the other two lived in the neighborhood of Harrow, northwest of the British capital.

Roussev entered the UK in 2009 and spent several years working in financial services, while Dzhambazov worked in hospitals and Ivanova was a laboratory assistant.

The three are due to go on trial at the Old Bailey in London in January.

This case follows other operations of the Russian secret services in recent years on British territory.

In 2018, Russian agents attempted to assassinate former Russian spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter, Julia, at their home in the southern city of Salisbury, while in 2006 the former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London. EFE

vg/sc