London-based Vanya Gaberova, 30, tells Old Bailey she was lied to and manipulated by alleged spy ring
An alleged Russian spy tearfully told the Old Bailey she knew nothing of plans to deploy her as a “honeytrap” and claimed she was “lied to, manipulated, used, and exposed”.
London-based Vanya Gaberova, 30, is accused of being part of a spy ring which targeted people and places of interest to the Russian state over three years.
It is alleged she befriended Christo Grozev on Facebook to get close to the journalist who uncovered Russian involvement in the 2018 Salisbury novichok poisoning.
In August 2021, Gaberova had accompanied her Russian spy lover Biser Dzhambazov, 43, to Vienna in Austria and stayed in a rented apartment near to Grozev’s home for surveillance, the Old Bailey heard.
They allegedly followed him to Valencia in Spain where Grozev attended a conference organised by the investigative journalism group Bellingcat, with Dzhambazov’s partner, Katrin Ivanova, travelling on the same plane.
Gaberova, described in messages as a “killer sexy brunette”, was sitting just metres from Grozev as he had breakfast with fellow Bellingcat journalist Eliot Higgins.
On Thursday, the beautician told the court she knew nothing of the meticulously planned operation against Grozev, telling jurors: “Seeing all of this now, I was lied to, manipulated, used, exposed.”
By September 2021, the spy chief Orlin Roussev and the alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek were planning to engineer a “romance” between Gaberova and Grozev, jurors heard.
As part of the honeytrap, Roussev suggested making a recording for the website Pornhub, saying Gaberova was “red hot” and a “swinger too”.
Gaberova became emotional as she denied knowing anything about it, telling jurors: “These people had horrible plans for me.”
In an earlier message, Roussev told Marsalek: “I put into action one of the brunettes.
“She has a beauty salon in London and very good, wide network of people on Facebook and Instagram.
“She sent invite to Grozev on Facebook and he was very quick to accept friendship.”
The prosecutor Alison Morgan KC asked what she understood she was doing when she originally befriended Grozev on Facebook.
Gaberova repeatedly denied knowing Roussev, despite having a contact under his Telegram handle, “Jackie Chan”, saved on her phone.
She was asked why she made a screenshot of a post on Facebook in which Grozev’s new profile picture was described by an “attractive brunette” as beautiful in Russian.
Morgan suggested this was the kind of woman Grozev might be interested in and bore a “very similar resemblance” to the defendant.
Gaberova, who declined to hand over her Facebook password, told jurors: “Mr Grozev never liked my picture, I never messaged him, I never talked to him.”
She told jurors Dzhambazov had claimed to be working for Interpol and had told her Grozev was a “bad journalist”.
Dzhambazov, from Harrow, north-west London, and Roussev, 46, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, have admitted plotting to spy for Russia between 2020 and 2023.
Orlin Roussev (left) and Biser Dzhambazov (right) have admitted spying for Russia. Katrin Ivanova (centre), Dzhambazov’s partner, is also accused. Composite: BBC news
Fellow Bulgarians Gaberova, her ex-boyfriend Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, of Acton, west London, and Ivanova, from Harrow, have denied involvement.
The court has heard how Gaberova was charmed by Dzhambazov in Valencia and left her boyfriend Ivanchev, unaware the older Dzhambazov was still with his partner, Ivanova.
Jurors viewed extracts of the former competitive swimmer Ivanchev’s police interviews, in which Morgan suggested he had attempted to throw Gaberova “under a bus” to save himself.
He blamed Gaberova for getting him involved, accused her of “manipulating” him and claimed she was used as a “shield” by Dzhambazov, jurors heard.
Morgan said Ivanchev’s account was “nonsense”, asking: “Do you know the expression ‘throwing someone under the bus’?
“He is trying to put you in it to save himself, isn’t he? Give the police officers a bit of information here and there to make it seem like he is the reasonable one answering all the questions, meanwhile pretending that somehow or other he was manipulated into doing all this by you. And it’s not true, is it?”
Gaberova replied: “Some of this was because Biser has told me that he is sick.”
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