Three Bulgarians face court over secret military base tracking scheme in Germany
A group of Bulgarian citizens stands trial in London for allegedly spying on a US military facility in Germany. The case involves tracking of Ukrainian soldiers and usage of high-tech surveillance tools
In a high-profile espionage case thats unfolding at Londons Old Bailey‚ three Bulgarian nationals face serious accusations of running spy operations (with alleged ties to Russia)
The defendants - Katrin Ivanova‚ Vanya Gaberova‚ and Tihomir Ivanchev - worked alongside two other Bulgarians whoʼve already admitted their involvement in the scheme; their operations targeted a US military base in Stuttgart about 2 years ago
The groups main focus was tracking Ukrainian soldiers who were learning to use Patriot air-defense systems: this included setting up special phone-tracking devices near the base. The prosecution points out that Ivanova made a special trip from London to Germany for this task - using fake papers and high-tech equipment to gather data
The alleged ring-leader‚ Jan Marsalek‚ who also went by the name Rupert Ticz‚ managed the group through another member. Their activities included:
- Watching specific journalists work
- Planning a fake protest near Kazakhstans embassy
- Using phone-tracking tools to find soldiers
- Making detailed reports about peoples movement
This could not be more serious in terms of the type of information that they were trying to gather
The case which started this winter will keep going until early next year‚ with all three main suspects strongly denying the charges against them. The whole operation lasted roughly two-and-a-half years ending with their arrest last winter
