Roman Dobrokhotov has spent years exposing Putin’s shadow operatives, but he never expected to sit inches away from one on a flight to Berlin. The Russian journalist, known for unmasking Kremlin-backed assassins, was being tracked. His flight details—compromised. His every move—monitored.
Behind him, a brunette woman sat quietly, blending in. He didn’t notice the camera strapped to her shoulder, recording his every move. This wasn’t some casual traveler—it was Katrin Ivanova, a Bulgarian operative living in London under deep cover.
That morning, she flew from Luton to Budapest with one mission: locate Dobrokhotov. As their plane taxied down the runway, she fired off messages on Telegram. “We are moving on the taxiway,” she wrote at 2:04 PM. Minutes later: “This one came out of arrivals and stayed there.” He was in her sights.
Waiting in Berlin was her partner, Biser Dzhambazov, another Moscow-linked agent embedded in the UK. “Are there many greeters?” he texted her at 2:12 PM. This wasn’t a casual conversation. This was intelligence-gathering in real-time.
They weren’t working alone. A third operative, known only as Cvetka, had already flown the route in a dry run. She was waiting at Berlin’s airport, another set of eyes tracking Dobrokhotov’s arrival. The journalist thought he was traveling unnoticed. He wasn’t.
Ivanova and Dzhambazov weren’t your typical Londoners. Publicly, they lived mundane lives in Harrow—she ran a beauty salon; he worked as a hospital driver. Privately, they were part of a spy ring embedded in the UK, living double lives while collecting intelligence for Moscow.
This wasn’t amateur hour. This was a sophisticated network operating in plain sight, using everyday personas as camouflage. Their goal? Monitor, report, and, if necessary, assist in the silencing of Kremlin critics abroad. The UK wasn’t just a base of operations—it was a hunting ground.
Dobrokhotov’s crime in the eyes of Moscow? Exposing the men behind the Salisbury poisonings and unraveling the Kremlin’s hidden hand in international espionage. That made him a target, and targets don’t move unnoticed. Not when Russian intelligence is involved.
The spying didn’t stay in Berlin. British authorities uncovered that Ivanova, Dzhambazov, and others in their network had been gathering intelligence on political figures, dissidents, and critical infrastructure. Their lives in London were a front, their real loyalty lying with Moscow.
This wasn’t some Cold War relic. This was happening in the present, under the noses of Western intelligence services. The Kremlin’s espionage network isn’t an abstract threat—it’s real, it’s active, and it’s operating in cities where no one suspects a thing.
Five Fast Facts
- Katrin Ivanova once ran a beauty salon in west London while secretly gathering intelligence for Moscow.
- Biser Dzhambazov worked as a hospital driver, making him the perfect person to move unnoticed in public spaces.
- Roman Dobrokhotov’s reporting helped expose the Russian agents behind the 2018 Salisbury poisonings.
- London has long been a hotbed for Russian espionage, with multiple sleeper agents uncovered in recent years.
- Telegram, the app used by the spies, is popular among Russian operatives for its encrypted messaging features.
