Russian spy who hoarded surveillance gadgets in English hotel boasted of being like James Bond character Q, court hears
A Russian spy was living in a “typical seaside hotel” on the English coast crammed full of electronic surveillance equipment, a court has heard.
Orlin Roussev boasted to his controller that he was becoming like the James Bond character “Q” as he prepared his spying “toys” for kidnap and surveillance operations across Europe.
He is said to have taken instructions from a handler called Jan Marsalek, who is wanted in connection with a £1.6bn tech fraud linked to a company called Wirecard.
Roussev, 46, a Bulgarian national, has pleaded guilty to running a spy ring on behalf of the Russians, but three other members of the group deny the charges.
Orlin Roussev pleaded guilty to running a spy ring on behalf of the Russians. Pic: Met Police
The Old Bailey was told a “vast” amount of technical equipment for “intrusive surveillance” was found at Roussev’s address in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, which he described in messages as his “Indiana Jones warehouse”.
The Haydee guest house on Prince’s Road had 33 rooms according to Dan Pawson-Pounds, prosecuting.
Inside three of them was a “significant amount of IT and surveillance equipment”. It was stacked up in two storage rooms and an office used by Roussev, the court was told.
The jury heard that Operation Skirp seized 3,540 exhibits from a number of addresses, including 1,650 digital exhibits, and was shown two “IMSI grabbers” – a black metal box capable of capturing mobile phone numbers from a nearby area.
An IMSI grabber, which can capture mobile phone numbers from a nearby area. Pic: Duncan Gardham/MPS
Both devices were described as “law enforcement grade” and could be used to intercept or disrupt targeted mobile phone communications and to identify an individual phone by their IMSI and IMEI numbers, in conjunction with a direction-finding unit.
The spies planned to use them outside a US military base in Stuttgart, Germany, to gather information from the phones of Ukrainian servicemen who were being trained to operate Patriot missile defence batteries, the prosecution said.
The information would have allowed them to track the servicemen back to Ukraine and identify where the missiles were fired from, but the plan was foiled when the men were arrested in February last year.
Read more on the trial:
Five suspected of spying for Russia charged, CPS says
Spies in love triangle to be used in ‘honeytrap’ across Europe
Spies plotted to kidnap Salisbury attack journalist
Pic: Duncan Gardham/MPS
Gadgets with hidden cameras part of evidence
Other findings included pendant necklaces with hidden cameras, water bottles with mobile phone-linked video surveillance capability, a Pandora car key cloning device, and more traditional surveillance equipment such as night vision binoculars and mobile radios.
Pic: Duncan Gardham/MPS
The spy ring’s members allegedly included Katrin Ivanova, 33, a lab assistant from Harrow, North London, Vanya Gaberova, 30, a beautician from Acton, West London, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a painter and decorator from Enfield.
Roussev and Biser Dzhambazov – a 43-year-old man from London who is also an alleged member of the ring – have both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collect information useful to an enemy.
Gaberova, Ivanova, and Ivanchev all deny the charges and the trial continues. All five are Bulgarian nationals with “settled status” in the UK.
More equipment – including a black cap with a concealed camera and a one-litre plastic Coke bottle with waterproof camera behind the label – was found in the lounge at a North London flat shared by Ivanova and Dzhambazov, the trial has heard.
The trial continues.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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