A sixth person has appeared in court accused of being a member of a spy ring which allegedly plotted to abduct Russian targets in the UK.

Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 38, has been charged with conspiring to collect information which could be harmful to the “safety and interest of the state” on behalf of Russia.

Mr Ivanchev, of Acton, west London, appeared in person at Westminster magistrates’ court on Wednesday.

Dressed in a grey fleece he spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

The court heard that he, along with five other people previously charged, was part of an “organised network” of Bulgarian based nationals who were carrying out surveillance against locations and individuals on behalf of the Russian state.

Mr Ivanchev, a Bulgarian national, was arrested on Feb 7 as part of an ongoing investigation being led by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.

Mr Ivanchev, who will next appear at the Old Bailey on March 15, is accused of being part of an organised network conducting surveillance against several identities or locations in order to assist the Russian state in carrying out hostile interference, the court heard.

The alleged Bulgarian spy ring is accused of plotting the abduction of targets for Russia while operating in the UK, the court heard.

It means there are now active criminal cases against six Bulgarians.

The other defendants, three men and two women, who all have addresses in the UK, will stand trial in October accused of conspiring to gather information that would be useful to an enemy between August 2020 and February 2023.

They are Orlin Roussev, 46, Bizer Dzhambazov, 42, Katrin Ivanova, 32, Ivan Stoyanov, 32, and Vanya Gaberova, 29.

False identity documents

Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova are also charged with possession of false identity documents with improper intention under section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010.

Mr Ivanchev is listed as the owner of a London decorating business.

The defendants are accused of conspiring to collect information with “another person known as Jan Marsalek and others unknown”.

Mr Marsalek, an Austrian, was the former chief operating officer of the company Wirecard.

Mr Marsalek – who has been on the run since the financial services and online payments processing firm collapsed in 2020 amid allegations of fraud – is alleged to have been the conduit between the alleged spies and Vladamir Putin, the president of Russia’s, intelligence services.

Mr Marsalek is not charged in connection with the case.