15 August 2023 , 18:28
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Two alleged Russian spies charged in a major national security probe fitted seamlessly into English suburban life for a decade.
Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, and his partner Katrin Ivanova, 31, held down normal jobs, enjoyed regular fry-ups at a local cafe and delighted neighbours by bringing them “cakes and pies”. One former neighbour who regularly spoke to them in their peaceful cul-de-sac said they introduced themselves as “Max and Kate”, would holiday in the Med and would always say hello.
The pair, who were living in Harrow, north-west London, have been charged with an offence under the Identity Documents Act. The were charged alongside Orlin Roussev, 45, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, for allegedly possessing identity documents that they knew were fake.
All three are Bulgarian nationals and it is alleged they were working for the Russian security services. The documents include passports, identity cards and other documents for the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.
Katrin Ivanova
Orlin RoussevThe trio were among five people arrested in February by counter terrorism detectives. Dzhambazov, Ivanova and Roussev were charged later in February with an offence under the Identity Documents Act. Dzhambazov worked as a hospital driver and Ivanova as a lab assistant with a private healthcare company.
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The couple ran a community organisation providing services to Bulgarians, including familiarising them with the ‘culture and norms of British society’. Bulgarian state documents also list them as working for electoral commissions in London which help expats to vote in Bulgarian elections. The pair appeared alongside Roussev at the Old Bailey on July 31.
A hearing for Ivanova was held at the Old Bailey yesterday (Tues). They have yet to enter pleas to the charges and are remanded in custody. A neighbour at a former Harrow address today told the Mirror: “They were renting here for two or three years and moved before Covid.
Mr Dzhambazov and Ms Ivanova are described by former neighbours as a couple (Facebook)“They would always say hello. He used to transport blood and she focused more on the Bulgarian community business. He told us he was Max and she was Kate, and that’s just how we knew them. I think he did a bit of weightlifting. They said they came from (Bulgarian capital) Sofia.
“They were very friendly and no problem at all. They used to holiday in the Med somewhere. I can’t remember where, an island I think. Her mum also lived with them.” Speaking to the BBC, other former neighbours said they brought round pies and cakes as gifts. Their most recent address was a block of flats on Harrow High Road.
Simon Carsini, the owner of Gino’s Cafe nearby, said the casual couple would wear flip flops and vests and enjoyed a Full English for £6.50. “I just spoke to my chef about them and he said he recognised them, that they would come in here and order a Super Breakfast and four toasts and sit in the window,” he told the Mirror. “Harrow is a very multicultural place where anybody could fit in and have a very normal life.”
Building in Harrow where two of the accused lived (Daily Mirror)Dzhambazov’s Facebook shows he was a fan of British rock group Queen. According to Companies House, Dzhambazov has also had his own business named B.I Business Investment Ltd since 2016. Locals near the couple’s most recent address said police vans were camped in the Lidl car park opposite their home for up to two weeks earlier in the year, with forensics officers entering in and out of their property.
The owner of the most recent flat they rented said she had no idea her tenants were at the centre of a national security investigation and that they always paid their rent on time. Sonal Thakrar said they lived at the one bedroom property for five years.
She said: “We have been kept completely in the dark. All we knew was that police had been to the flat, and they had moved out." Sonal said the couple’s references were checked out by the managing agents. “We were told they were a Polish couple, but I never spoke to them or went to the flat while they were there. That was the job of the managing agents. We never had any trouble and the main thing was that they paid the rent on time.”
A guest house in Great Yarmouth where Roussev is believed to have stayed (East Anglia News Service)Meanwhile Roussev has a history of business dealings in Russia, the BBC reported. He is said to have moved to the UK in 2009 and spent three years working in a technical role in financial services. His online LinkedIn profile states he later owned a business involved in signals intelligence, which involves the interception of communications or electronic signals.
Roussev, whose most recent address is a seaside guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, also states he once acted as an adviser to the Bulgarian ministry of energy. He was arrested in February at the rundown Haydee Hotel - which is owned by a Bulgarian businesswoman.
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Locals recalled a scenes of crime tent being erected on the doorstep after Roussev was seized while groups of masked men dressed in black were seen searching the address for nearly two days. They said they had not seen anyone come in or out of the hotel for months, and did not believe it had been open for business since at least last year.
Bar manager Moira Scott (East Anglia News Service)There was no reply at the door of the budget guest house which has eight rooms and is just 100 yards away from Great Yarmouth seafront. Wooden blinds remained drawn across the front downstairs windows and curtains were closed on the upper two storeys.
Dead plants were visible in two hanging baskets and two wall mounted plant holders, with two rusting metal tables and empty chairs at the front of the hotel. Stickers in the front window stated that it had ratings of 8.7 and 9 on website booking.com. One hotel website described it as having “eight rooms with homely comforts”.
Moira Scott who is the bar manager at the family-owned Prom Hotel opposite the Haydee said she could recall security personnel descending on the hotel in February. She said: “I came to work at about 9am and I was opening up when I thought, ‘What is going on over the road?’
“There was a big scenes of crime tent outside the door of the Haydee and there were a load of plain police vans with blacked out windows. My first reaction was that someone had been murdered. There were a lot of men dressed in black clothes with their faces covered who were coming and going. They had balaclavas on as if they didn’t want anyone to recognise them which I thought was a bit weird.
“At one stage a group of about six of the men walked over towards the seafront, and I wondered what they were doing. I looked on the local news to see what was going on, but there was nothing about it. I remember asking customers if they knew what was happening, but nobody did."
History of Russian spooks in UK
Russian spies have operated for years in the UK - with some notorious incidents in recent history. In 2018, Russian operatives attempted to murder former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, Wiltshire, using the deadly nerve agent Novichok. The pair, as well as responding detective Nick Bailey, were treated in hospital and could have died.
Later that year, local woman Dawn Sturgess - who was unconnected to the Skripals - died after being exposed to the nerve agent, which had been left in Wiltshire in a perfume bottle. In 2006, former Russian-intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London after being poisoned by assassins working for the Russian state.
Peter John Kroger and wife Helen (Mirrorpix)Number 45 Cranley Drive in Ruislip was just a regular bungalow placed on a quiet residential street in West London. Neighbours stated the occupants were friendly bookshop owners who enjoyed hosting parties. But Peter and Helen Kroger, whose real names were Morris and Lona Cohen, were using the address to run a secret Russian spy ring to smuggle sensitive information about the British government back to Moscow.
They bought the bungalow in the mid-1950s and moved in as a cover for their clandestine operations. The major Russian spy network, known as the Portland Spy Ring, operated in Britain in the post-war years with members including intelligence agent Gordon Lonsdale, former British Naval Attaché Harry Houghton, Ethel Gee and the Kroger couple.
On January 7, 1960 Special Branch officers arrested Houghton, Gee and Lonsdale near the Old Vic theatre in London where they were found to be in possession of secret navy documents. The Krogers were arrested in Ruislip and when the bungalow was searched by police, they found spy equipment and a secret trap door under the fridge.
The Krogers' bungalow in Ruislip (Getty Images)Anna Chapman, now 41, was among a ring of Russian spies who all carried out long-term, deep-cover assignments across the US. She moved to New York in 2009 from the UK, where she had been issued with a UK passport after marrying a British man. The FBI finally swooped on her and other Russian SVR (formerly KGB) intelligence agents in June 2010 She was unmasked in New York, and later exchanged in a spy swap that saw Skripal come to Britain.