A Russian dissident who was the target of a proxy spy ring dubbed the “Minions” has said the group “wanted to kill me and were following me”, adding he only found out he was a target after reading his name in the news.
Bulgarians Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were found guilty at the Old Bailey last week of spying on an “industrial scale”, putting lives and national security at risk.
They will be sentenced alongside ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, his second-in-command Biser Dzhambazov, 43, and Ivan Stoyanov, 33, who admitted their roles.
During the trial, it was revealed the network had engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations over three years in which spies were referred to as Despicable Me’s yellow sidekicks.
Court artist sketches of Bulgarian nationals (l to r) Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova, Orlin Roussev, Ivan Stoyanov and Bizer Dzhambazov (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
Lawyer Kirill Kachur, 33, was being hunted by the team who had been tasked with kidnapping him and sending him back to Moscow, either dead or alive, for a price of £700,000.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Kachur said he had left Moscow in February 2021 after being falsely accused of bribery and being told both the FSB and Vladimir Putin wanted him dead.
While on the run he “received a lot of information that they wanted to kill me and were following me”, and then in November 2023 he “read in the newspapers” that he was a target of the spy ring being operated from UK soil.
Mr Kachur allegedly tried to contact the Metropolitan Police in order to give evidence at the trial but his lawyers received no response until days before the jury retired.
The court heard the spy ring was directed by alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian businessman wanted by Interpol after the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard.
In chilling discussions, Marsalek discussed kidnapping Mr Kachur in Montenegro, telling Roussev: “We don’t mind if he dies by accident but better if he manages to find his way to Moscow.”
A Minion soft toy which was adapted with a camera to be used for spying (Metropolitan Police/PA)
According to The Telegraph, before leaving Moscow Mr Kachur and his People’s Liberation Front movement had gathered 50,000 signatures on an ultimatum addressed to Putin calling for an end to corruption.
In November 2023, he was designated an enemy of the Russian state who was said to be working in the interest of the West.
He said he had “many friends” in high places in Russia who “told me that the FSB was hunting me all over the world – either directly or through their agents, that they would either kill me or kidnap me and bring me to Moscow”.
He added: “I received these threats in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. I still receive them now. There were different groups that wanted to carry out these threats.
“I learnt that (Marsalek) first targeted me from the newspapers. I don’t know who he is. I suspect that he is one of the agents recruited by the FSB.
An address in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, where police arrested spy chief Orlin Roussev in 2023 (Metropolitan Police/PA)
“I want to emphasise that the ‘arms’ of the Fifth Service and the Sixth Service of the FSB Internal Security Directorate are very long and large, and they have many agents recruited all over the world.
“That’s why I don’t know who he is. And I’ve only read about him in the media. But I understand where it comes from, I understand who the organiser is.”
Mr Kachur said the kidnap operations against him were ordered by the Fifth Service of the FSB, which runs operations abroad and is “very dangerous”.
“Because they have agents in every country, people are recruited through consulates, diplomatic missions and commercial companies,” he explained.
“They have many agents in every country.
“They either act directly through existing agents or force them to recruit new agents, as was the case with the Bulgarian spies, at least I think so in terms of the Bulgarians. They do it through the hands of other people.”