Suspected Russian spies targeted journalist with Facebook 'honey trap', UK court hears

FILE PHOTO: Bellingcat report author Christo Grozev gives a press conference opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia targeted an investigative journalist with the Bellingcat news outlet and tried to lure him into a "honey trap" via Facebook, prosecutors told a London court on Monday.

Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, are accused of being part of a highly sophisticated spying network, run by a Russian agent named as Jan Marsalek, which targeted people including dissidents.