A Russian spy ring plotted to create a deepfake porn video of the Kazakh president’s son as part of an elaborate plot to sow chaos in the country, allowing Russia to step in as a rescuer, a U.K. court heard on Tuesday.
Messages exchanged between the agents, shown to a jury at the Old Bailey in London, revealed they also discussed spraying pig’s blood over the Kazakh embassy in the U.K. capital, hacking Kazakh nuclear power plants and crashing the nation’s currency.
The trial comes amid mounting concern over the extent of Russian misinformation and sabotage plots. On Tuesday, Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, said that Russia, along with China, “have tried to destabilize our nations with acts of sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation and energy blackmail.
At the trial, the jury heard Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian national who led the ring, and Orlin Roussev, 46, head of the cell’s U.K. operation, planned to mount an attack against Kazakhstan in autumn 2022, prosecutor Alison Morgan told the court.
It is alleged the gang hoped the fake strike would allow Russia to improve ties with Kazakhstan by appearing to come to its aid.
In one message, Marsalek told Roussev that he was considering “a deepfake porn video” of the Kazakh president’s son. Roussev replied that the idea was “cool and very feasible.”
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the current president of Kazakhstan, was in office at the time of the conversations between the agents.
In another discussion, a man going by the name of Rupert Ticz—who is alleged to be Marsalek—asked about using a drone to drop 100 liters of pig blood on the Kazakhstan embassy in the U.K. capital.
The trial comes amid mounting concern over the extent of Russian misinformation and sabotage plots. On Tuesday, Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, said that Russia, along with China, “have tried to destabilize our nations with acts of sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation and energy blackmail.
At the trial, the jury heard Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian national who led the ring, and Orlin Roussev, 46, head of the cell’s U.K. operation, planned to mount an attack against Kazakhstan in autumn 2022, prosecutor Alison Morgan told the court.
It is alleged the gang hoped the fake strike would allow Russia to improve ties with Kazakhstan by appearing to come to its aid.
In one message, Marsalek told Roussev that he was considering “a deepfake porn video” of the Kazakh president’s son. Roussev replied that the idea was “cool and very feasible.”
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the current president of Kazakhstan, was in office at the time of the conversations between the agents.
In another discussion, a man going by the name of Rupert Ticz—who is alleged to be Marsalek—asked about using a drone to drop 100 liters of pig blood on the Kazakhstan embassy in the U.K. capital.
“The idea is that we film it and publish it saying it’s the blood of the innocent Kazakh people, which the president has on his hands,” one message written by the man said.
Details of the plots against Kazakhstan emerged in the trial of Bulgarian nationals Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, Katrin Ivanova, 33, and Vanya Gaberova, 30, who have all pleaded not guilty to spying on Russia’s behalf.
The trio were allegedly taking instructions from Roussev, who has already pleaded guilty to the charge. Roussev, in turn, is alleged to have been receiving orders from Marsalek—the former chief operating officer of the collapsed payments company Wirecard.
His current whereabouts are unknown.
On Monday, the trial heard the group targeted an investigative journalist with the Bellingcat news outlet and tried to lure him into a “honey trap” via Facebook.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan said the group had conducted surveillance on Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian national who works for Bellingcat, in 2021.
Grozev led on the investigative news outlet’s reports about the 2018 poisoning of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.
The trial continues and is expected to last until February 2025.
Details of the plots against Kazakhstan emerged in the trial of Bulgarian nationals Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, Katrin Ivanova, 33, and Vanya Gaberova, 30, who have all pleaded not guilty to spying on Russia’s behalf.
The trio were allegedly taking instructions from Roussev, who has already pleaded guilty to the charge. Roussev, in turn, is alleged to have been receiving orders from Marsalek—the former chief operating officer of the collapsed payments company Wirecard.
His current whereabouts are unknown.
On Monday, the trial heard the group targeted an investigative journalist with the Bellingcat news outlet and tried to lure him into a “honey trap” via Facebook.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan said the group had conducted surveillance on Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian national who works for Bellingcat, in 2021.
Grozev led on the investigative news outlet’s reports about the 2018 poisoning of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.
The trial continues and is expected to last until February 2025.
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