Woman accused of being Russian spy 'drank Red Bull and only chatted about nails'
A woman suspected of being a Russian spy slotted seamlessly into a cosmopolitan London community, say the people who knew her.
Locals in her circle say Bulgarian beautician Vanya Gaberova, 29, would buy Red Bull, water and cigarettes from a shop across the road from her salon Pretty Woman, in Acton, West London, every morning. On lunch breaks she often walked a few metres to the Portuguese Vilamoura cafe.
There she would sip a latte and usually eat a cheese baguette, said cafe manager Tiago Nogueria. He added: “She was a lovely woman, very discreet, very polite. But what I did find strange was her boyfriend – she was far more attractive than him.
“She wanted to buy the flower shop nearby but that fell through. I wouldn’t have suspected her of being a spy but if she was, she was a good one.” Gaberova is understood to have opened her salon with a boyfriend before the Covid pandemic.
The Pretty Woman shop Vanya Gaberova ranOne client, who visited glamorous Ms Gaberova every three months for around three years for nail treatments, told the Mirror: “She was a very nice lady. She never talked about herself, never about politics. Nails were her hobby. She was very professional and all her clients were so happy with her.”
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The woman and a friend said Gaberova had gone with her boyfriend when he had surgery abroad, possibly in Georgia, within the past two years. The shop was closed yesterday but it has been operating since Gaberova’s arrest in February.
One businessman in the Acton area said in recent months he was taken downstairs in Pretty Woman by a worker, not Gaberova, where he saw two rooms with massage beds in. The hallways had cameras, he added. Gaberova calls herself an eyelash extension specialist and claims to have won awards in the UK, Bulgaria and Russia.
She is to be charged with “conspiring to collect information intended to be…useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state”. Ms Gaberova will appear before Westminster magistrates on Tuesday.
Gaberova calls herself an eyelash extension specialist (Vanya Gaberova / east2west News)With her will be Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, Katrin Ivanova, 31, and Ivan Stoyanov, 31. The group operated from August 30, 2020, to February 8 this year, the CPS claims. The Mirror told last month how Dzhambazov and partner Ivanova held down normal jobs, enjoyed fry-ups at a cafe and delighted neighbours by bringing them cakes and pies.
One ex-neighbour from their peaceful cul-de-sac said they introduced themselves as Max and Kate, holidayed in the Med and always said hello. Roussev’s last address was in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Dzhambazov and Ivanova were based in Harrow, North West London, Stoyanov in Greenford, West London, and Gaberova in North West London.
Roussev, Dzhambazov, and Ivanova have been in London’s suburbs for years. Roussev moved to the UK in 2009, working in financial services. He is said to have advised the Bulgarian ministry of energy at some point. Former neighbours described Dzhambazov and Ivanova as a couple.
He was said to be a driver for hospitals, while Ivanova describes herself on her LinkedIn profile as a lab assistant for a health firm. The couple, who moved here a decade ago, ran a community organisation for Bulgarians. Bulgarian state documents say they also worked for electoral commissions in London, facilitating voting in home elections for Bulgarian citizens abroad.
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