A BBC investigation has for the first time publicly identified two women involved in a Russian spy network operating in the UK. The two women, both Bulgarian citizens, are Cvetelina Gencheva and Tsvetanka Doncheva, and they participated in complex surveillance operations targeting individuals under watch by the spy ring.
Read Also...:
Top US officials shift blame for Signal chat leak to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth
03-26, 2025
Trump says national security advisor doesn't need to apologise after journalist was added into group text discussing war plans
03-26, 2025
FBI launches task force targeting anti-Tesla 'domestic terrorism'
03-26, 2025
Papua New Guinea shuts down Facebook in test to stop 'pornography, misinformation, hate speech'
03-26, 2025When contacted by the BBC, both women declined to answer questions. Ms. Gencheva, an airport worker, hung up the phone when contacted and subsequently stated in a letter that she did not wish to comment on the case. Ms. Doncheva, when approached near her residence in Vienna, Austria, denied her identity and walked away.
Six other Bulgarians are awaiting sentencing in London for their roles in the spy ring, acting as agents for Russia. Police have described the network as a "highly sophisticated" operation that posed a threat to life. Three of them pleaded guilty, admitting they knew they were working for Russia, while the other three were convicted this month at the Old Bailey after a trial, failing to convince the jury that they were not involved in espionage.
The spy ring was directed from abroad by Jan Marsalek, originally from Austria, who was a business executive in Germany before becoming an asset of Russian intelligence. The group's targets included journalists investigating Russian espionage activities. One of those journalists, Roman Dobrokhotov, told the BBC that he believes Vladimir Putin bears ultimate responsibility for the operation.
Ms. Gencheva, who resides in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, used her employment in the aviation industry to obtain private flight information of the spy ring's targets. The spies followed these individuals onto planes and booked seats nearby, closely observing what their targets typed on their phones, and even at one point identifying journalist Roman Dobrokhotov's phone password. Ms. Doncheva, on the other hand, helped surveil investigative journalist Christo Grozev in Vienna, occupying an apartment opposite his residence and operating a camera to film his home.
Austrian police arrested the unemployed Ms. Doncheva last December. Court documents indicate that she is "strongly suspected of committing secret intelligence activities endangering Austria." She told investigators that she conducted the surveillance at the request of a long-time friend, Vanya Gaberova. Gaberova is one of the six Bulgarians awaiting sentencing. She claimed Gaberova provided her with a list containing names, addresses, and photographs. The documents also reveal that the spy ring Doncheva was part of was ultimately controlled by Jan Marsalek, representing Russian intelligence, from Moscow.
Unlike the six spies convicted in the UK, neither Ms. Doncheva nor Ms. Gencheva have been detained or convicted of any crimes. A request by Austrian prosecutors for Ms. Doncheva to be held in pre-trial detention was rejected, and she has been released. Austrian court documents stated that Ms. Doncheva posed "no risk of flight" because she was "socially integrated" in the country and cared for her mother, and that the risk of further offenses was not particularly high given that others involved had been imprisoned in the UK.
Anna Thalhammer, editor of the Austrian news magazine Profil, told the BBC that she "cannot understand" why the person who surveilled her has been released. "Maybe (they) shouldn't believe everything spies say." She also stated that Austrian intelligence believes there are other spy rings and that their activities are continuing even after the arrest of the six Bulgarians in the UK. Ms. Gencheva remains free in Bulgaria, publicly advertising herself as an experienced airline and tourism professional.
