UK Court: Bulgarian Spy Group Acting on Behalf of Russia Targeted Ukrainian Soldiers at US Military Base in Germany

A UK court has heard a case of a Russian spy ring of Bulgarian nationals attacking Ukrainian soldiers at a US military base in Germany who were training there and using a crucial air defence system to defend against a Russian invasion, British prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The suspects, Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tikhomir Ivanchev, 39, are accused of being part of a sophisticated spy network run by a Russian agent named Jan Marsalek, an Austrian national. The group planned six espionage operations from Britain. 

One of them took place at a sensitive US military base near the German city of Stuttgart, where the Ukrainian military was training to use the Patriot air defence system.

Prosecutors said that the sophisticated surveillance equipment, called the Stealth Catcher IMSI Grabber, was to be used to collect data on the personal phones of Ukrainian servicemen.

It was also alleged that one of the defendants, Katrin Ivanova, was going to operate the equipment and, if successfully collected, it would have allowed the geolocation of air defence systems in the field, giving Russia a significant military advantage. 

The last operation presented by the prosecutor's office involved a plan to kidnap or kill a Russian dissident named Kirill Kachur.

The court heard how all three defendants took part in a sophisticated surveillance mission involving a Russian spy codenamed ‘Red Sparrow’.

Prosecutors say the existence of the schemes is beyond doubt, with thousands of reports detailing the details, and two of the defendants have already admitted to their involvement in the operations.