A Russian spy cell operating in the UK planned to kidnap and kill Roman Dobrokhotov, the founder and current editor-in-chief of Russian independent media outlet The Insider, the BBC and The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
The revelation came during the trial in London of five Bulgarian nationals who are accused of spying on individuals and places of interest to Russia over a period of nearly three years, the BBC reported.
One of the defendants, Orlin Roussev, is said to have exchanged “thousands of messages” with suspected Russian agent Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman who fled to Russia after being accused of fraud, who gave instructions to Roussev.
One of the targets discussed by Roussev and Marsalek was Dobrokhotov, who is based in the UK, the court heard, with messages from 2022 discussing what they called Operation Fishing Boat, a plan to kidnap Dobrokhotov, smuggle him out of the country by boat and into international waters or to Syria, where Russian soldiers are stationed.
The prosecution cited a message from Marsalek in which he said that a successful operation on British soil would be “amazing”, following the failed Novichok attack on former Russian spy Sergey Skripal in the British city of Salisbury in March 2018.
In another message chain quoted by The Telegraph, Marsalek and Roussev discussed ways to kill Dobrokhotov, dismissing an “accident” in the shower as “not dramatic enough” and offering to poison him with ricin or nerve agent VX.
“Maybe burn him alive on the street, spray him with some super-strong acid, VX like the North Koreans or the ricin… Shower accident won’t discourage others. It must create a dramatic story,” Marsalek wrote.
Roussev has admitted the spy charge along with another Bulgarian national Bizer Dzhambazov, thought to be his second-in-command, The Telegraph reported, while the three other Bulgarian citizens have all pleaded not guilty to conspiring to spy for Russia.
The court also read messages about a potential operation in Ukraine targeting investigative journalist Christo Grozev, The Insider’s head of investigations, but dismissed the plans as they might have interfered “with another overlapping operation in Ukraine”, according to Marsalek.
Founded by Dobrokhotov in 2013, The Insider is an independent outlet focused on investigative reporting that has published numerous revelations about the work of Russia’s security services, including a September investigation that revealed late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was likely poisoned in prison.