A FORMER British general has warned that the threat Russian spies pose to the UK is greater now than during the Cold War.
Sir Richard Barrons told The Sun that the recent arrests of suspected Russian spies are only “one small part” of Vladimir Putin’s serious and expanding espionage operation threatening the UK.
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Today, it was revealed that three Bulgarian nationals suspected of working for Russian intelligence services were arrested and charged in a major national security investigation.
Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, and Katrin Ivanova, 31, led unassuming suburban lives in Britain for the last 10 years – even calling over to their neighbours with homemade cakes.
The trio were among five people arrested in February on suspicion of an offence under the Official Secrets Act.
The three Bulgarian nationals were also charged with possessing identity documents with “improper intention”, state the Met Police.
The accused are set to go on trial at the Old Bailey in London in January.
General Barrons praised the British security services and police for their success in identifying and rounding-up the suspected Russian spies.
However, he told The Sun: “We should see this as just one episode and one small part of what we know as an expanding, serious threat of Russian espionage directed at the UK and all of us.”
Warning that Britain is under greater levels of espionage than the Cold War, he said: “The threat is bigger than that.”
Referring to the crimes already committed by Russian agents in the UK – the Salisbury poisonings and the murder of Alexander Litvinenko – Barrons said: “Russia thinks it can get away with it.
“Russia doesn’t play by any rules we bind ourselves to.
“We talk lots about cyber-attacks, misinformation, but spies like this exist in numbers and are prepared to do harm,” added the former Commander of Joint Forces Command.
For a decade, the accused spies “were working entirely covertly until they were caught”.
And judging by their hoard of identity documents, the general believes the suspected spy ring were working as a “covert, lower-level part of Russian security services” responsible for “surveillance”.
In 2020, the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament released a report that stated the government had taken “its eye off the ball on Russia”.
It boldly admitted that “they underestimated the response required to the Russian threat and are still playing catch up”.
Do you know Orlin Roussev, Bizer Dzhambazov or Katrin Ivanova? Tell us your story at: iona.cleave@the-sun.co.uk or worldnews@the-sun.co.uk
Now the Russian threat, Sir Barrons said, is a much greater risk due to the UK’s role in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
“Agents like this will be trying to work out how we are supporting Ukraine and find ways of disrupting that support.”
General Barrons added: “For these kind of undisclosed, covert agents, it will be a constant effort of security services to identify who these people are – and that process will never stop.”
Retired MI5 officer, Annie Machon, agrees that the threat of Russian espionage is “past Cold War levels”.
The Intelligence committee has already laid out that the “perceived threat is rapidly developing and becoming more aggressive,” she told The Sun, adding that it has surged since 2008.
“This is likely the tip of a very big iceberg.”
Russia, Machon argues, has spent 15 years increasing its influence in the UK and not just through spies but through “cash to access” tactics used by oligarchs to buy political power.
In November, ex-MI6 agent Julian Richards said Moscow had become so effective at spying in Britain that intelligence agencies “don’t know” just how many rogue operatives are active in the UK.
Also last year, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum announced that over 600 Russian officials were expelled from European countries – “over 400 of whom we judge as spies”.
“This has struck the most significant strategic blow against the Russian Intelligence Services in recent European history,” he added.
And yet, Machon said that Russia will have been rushing to replace those expelled.
“The concern in the intelligence community has increased because the threat is expanding and there are high-levels of activity.”
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