Acton Beautician and Painter Guilty of Spying for Russia

Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanchev took part in plots to kidnap and kill

Gaberova and Dzhambazov on a beach in Montenegro during a spying mission. Picture: Met Police

March 10, 2025

30-year-old Vanya Gaberova, who managed a beauty salon on Churchfield Road, and her former boyfriend from Acton, 39-year-old Tihomir Ivanchev, have been found guilty of spying for Russia following a trial at the Old Bailey lasting three months.

Along with 33-year-old Katrin Ivanova, the three Bulgarian nationals took part in what the police describe as one of the largest foreign intelligence operations in this country.

They were part of a group who carried out surveillance on journalists, a former politician and a US military base in Germany between 2020 and 2023. The ultimate intent of these operations was to ensnare critics of the Moscow regime with a view to kidnap and kill them or to gather intelligence useful to the forces invading Ukraine.

The group was led by 47-year-old Orlin Roussev who had already pleaded guilty to espionage offences. He, in turn took instructions from Jan Marsalek, who remains at large and is wanted in Germany where he faces fraud charges. He was described by prosecution as an "intermediary for the Russian intelligence services" who had known Roussev for a decade. Roussev, a former Chief Technology Officer at a City of London firm, ran the operation from a 33-room former guest house in Great Yarmouth where police found a huge store of equipment that could be used for espionage. This included 221 mobile phones, 495 sim cards, 11 drones, and devices allowing data to be extracted from phones and intercepting wi-fi activity.

Vanya Gaberova following her arrest in 2023. Picture: Met Police

The court heard that detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command sifted through more than 200,000 messages and seized hundreds of items after a co-ordinated series of raids and arrests were carried out on 8 February 2023.

The investigation team identified six core spying ‘plots’ the group were involved in. This included activity that targeted two investigative journalists.

A former senior Kazakh politician who lived in the UK was also targeted, and the group planned to stage protests at the Kazakhstan embassy in London. Both operations were part of an elaborate plan to help the Russia state gain favour with Kazakhstan.

The group also carried out surveillance at a US military site in Germany, where they believed Ukrainian soldiers were being trained.

Another man who was designated as a ‘foreign agent’ by Russia was also targeted by the group during surveillance operations in Montenegro.

The group had been instructed to target investigative journalists Christo Grozev and Roman Dobrokhotov who had exposed evidence linking to the Novichok attack in Salisbury in 2018 and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny in 2020.

Fake press passes used by Gaberova and Ivanchev to get access to targets. Picture: Met Police

Gaberova had been told to befriend Mr Grozev by Roussev although in the event the closest she got to him an acceptance of a Facebook friend request.

Gaberova had been in a relationship with Ivanchev who worked locally as a painter and decorator and provided funds to set up the Pretty Woman salon by taking out a loan and decorated it for her. However, she later switched her affections to 43-year-old Bizer Dzhambazov and the pair were found in bed together when the police went to arrest them. hen this happened, she turned to him and said “What have you done?”.

Pretty Woman on Churchfield Road. Picture: Google Streetview

Along with Ivanova, Gaberova claimed that she had no idea that the surveillance they undertook was for Russia and that Dzhambazov had shown them a card which said that he was an employee of Interpol.

The fake Interpol card Gaberova was shown by Dzhambazov. Picture: Met Police

Giving evidence she had said that when she was younger, she had dreamt of working for the police but couldn’t afford to get the necessary qualifications and trained as an accountant instead. Dzhambazov had told her that he could arrange for her to attend college in Wembley which would enable her to take examinations which would make her eligible for a career with the police.

Although she described Dzhambazov as ‘ugly’, she enjoyed staying at a five-star hotels, taking trips to Valencia, Vienna and Montenegro and eating at Michelin star restaurants.

Ivanchev did not give evidence during the trial but made similar claims about lack of knowledge of the true purpose of the operations and said that he had been talking to MI5. He said Gaberova and Dzhambazov had entangled him it the espionage operation. He was only detained a year after the initial arrests.

Vanya Gaberova. Picture: Vanya Gaberova/Facebook

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said, “These convictions have been achieved as the result of an extremely complex investigation into a group that was carrying out sophisticated surveillance operations in the UK, and in Europe, on behalf of the Russian state.

“This case is a clear example of the increasing amount of state threat casework we are dealing with in the UK - particularly linked to Russia. It also highlights a relatively new phenomenon whereby espionage is being ‘outsourced’ by certain states.

“While the outsourcing of espionage activity might suggest that recent efforts by the UK to thwart direct Russian activity have been effective, it means that we also have to guard against this new kind of emerging threat.

The group will be sentenced at the Old Bailey in May.