Three people who are allegedly Russian spies in the UK have reportedly been apprehended and prosecuted as part of a large national security probe, according to the BBC.
The defendants, who are all Bulgarian nationals, have been incarcerated since their detention in February.
They are accused of possessing these while knowing they were fake and of doing so with “improper intent.”
It is said that they were employed by the Russian security services.
The documents are from the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic. They also include passports, identity cards, and other paperwork.
Five persons were detained in February on suspicion of violating the Official Secrets Act, including the trio.
They are scheduled to return in September to answer police bail after being detained by counterterrorism detectives from the Metropolitan Police, which is in charge of national policing of espionage.
Later in February, three of them were accused of violating the Identity Documents Act.
- Orlin Roussev, 45, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
- Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, of Harrow, north-west London
- Katrin Ivanova, 31, of the same Harrow address
They are still being held and will next be seen at the Old Bailey.
The trio has been residing in the UK for many years, holding a range of jobs, and residing in several suburban homes.
Mr. Roussev has previously conducted business in Russia.
He relocated to the UK in 2009 and worked three years in a technical capacity in the financial services industry.
His eventual ownership of a company engaged in signals intelligence, which entails the interception of communications or electronic signals, is noted on his online LinkedIn page.
Mr. Roussev claims he had served as an adviser to the Bulgarian ministry of energy. His most recent address is a coastal hostel in Great Yarmouth.
Former neighbours in Harrow called Mr. Dzhambazov and Ms. Ivanova a couple.
Ms. Ivanova defines herself as a laboratory assistant for a private health company on her online LinkedIn profile, while Mr. Dzhambazov sees himself as a chauffeur for hospitals.
The two, who immigrated to the UK some ten years ago, established a community initiative that assisted Bulgarians by introducing them to the “culture and norms of British society.”
Online state records for Bulgaria show that they also worked for electoral commissions in London that made it easier for nationals of other countries to participate in Bulgarian elections.
Speaking to the BBC, neighbours at two homes that the couple previously called home claimed they left gifts of round pies and cakes.
Neighbours claimed investigators spent a lot of time searching their most recent Harrow property, and there was a noticeable police presence there for more than a week.
At the Old Bailey in London, the three accused are scheduled to stand trial in January. They have not yet pleaded guilty to the accusations.
Counterterrorism police have openly discussed the growing amount of time devoted to investigating alleged state threats and espionage, particularly with regard to Russia.
Their worry stems from well-known occurrences involving Russian intelligence operations in the UK in recent years.
In Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 2018, Russian agents made an attempt to kill ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia by using the lethal nerve chemical Novichok. The two were hospitalised for treatment and at risk of passing away, along with responding detective Nick Bailey.
Dawn Sturgess, a local resident and unrelated to the Skripals, passed away later that year after being exposed to the nerve toxin that had been put in a perfume bottle in Wiltshire.
Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer, died in London in 2006 after being poisoned by assassins employed by the Russian government.