On Friday, a British court found three Bulgarians guilty of spying for Russia. Two of the spy cell exposed in Britain - Orlin Rusev and Biser Dzhambazov - pleaded guilty themselves. The sixth defendant - Ivan Stoyanov, also pleaded guilty before the trial. Some British newspapers published headlines on Sunday that said the Bulgarian group did Putin's dirty work. The British security services have described the spy cell's activities as one of the largest and most complex foreign intelligence operations on the island, revealing a new approach to the work of the Russian services, NOVA NEWS reports.
The interest in the case is very high because for the first time the people who managed to unravel this espionage affair have spoken openly. Among them was the head of the anti-terrorist unit of the London police, Dominic Murphy. He said that these seemingly ordinary people - including a lab technician, two ambulance drivers and an eyelash specialist - really managed to do something so big and so impressive. And all thanks to this new approach used by the Russian special services.
It turns out that Russian intelligence is finding it increasingly difficult to introduce its experienced professional spies into the Western world, because countries have united against the danger posed by Vladimir Putin. That's why Moscow is starting to export its espionage activities to other countries - it's hiring so-called proxy spies who can be intermediaries, can navigate and control people who have nothing to do with espionage work. But thanks to their intelligence and ambition, and perhaps ideological reasons and serious pay - these people have been carrying out very successful and effective activities. It was identified as a new threat, which the special services in Britain have become very seriously interested in.