A journalist targeted by a Russian spy ring has revealed that the group had a chilling list of “assassination methods” that were “beyond any imagination.”
Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, known for exposing Russian intelligence operations, said the spies discussed extreme ways to eliminate him, including using a sledgehammer, a suicide bomber, and even kidnapping him to send him to a torture camp in Syria.
Grozev’s revelations come after three Bulgarian nationals were convicted last week in one of the UK’s largest foreign intelligence operations. The individuals were found guilty of spying for Russia and planning kidnappings and assassinations, including targeting Grozev and his colleague, Roman Dobrokhotov.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Grozev described the horrifying details of the plot, which included hiring an Islamic State group suicide bomber to detonate near him on the street. Another plan involved kidnapping him while a man wearing a latex mask resembling him would fly to Russia and be arrested in front of cameras for “full deniability.” The most brutal plan involved bludgeoning him to death with a sledgehammer.
Grozev, who has exposed Russian involvement in high-profile poisonings, including those of Alexei Navalny in 2020 and Sergei Skripal in 2018, said he and his colleague were tracked across Europe for years. Despite their experience in investigating Russian intelligence, they never expected to be spied on by EU citizens working as Russian agents.
According to court evidence, the spy ring was run by Orlin Roussev from a guesthouse in Norfolk, UK. Messages uncovered in the investigation show that Russian intelligence operative Jan Marsalek, who directed the group, acknowledged that President Vladimir Putin “seriously hates” Grozev due to his investigations into Russian security operations.
The spies reportedly broke into Grozev’s apartment in Vienna in 2022 while his son was home, an incident he described as deeply disturbing. “I just don’t want to think about what would’ve happened if my son decided to leave his room during their burglary,” he said.
The convicted spies—Vanya Gaberova, Katrin Ivanova, and Tihomir Ivanchev—led seemingly normal lives as a beautician, a healthcare worker, and a decorator. However, the court found that they were part of a larger Russian operation that included abductions, assassination plots, and honeytrap schemes. The Metropolitan Police described their methods as something “straight out of a spy novel.”
Grozev said that while Russian intelligence has suffered failures in recent years, the country has increasingly outsourced its operations to non-professional spies. He warned that these “wannabe spies” might lack training but remain extremely dangerous due to their willingness to act without restraint.
