Three men and two women from London and Norfolk have been charged, with the alleged offences occurring between 30 August 2020 and 8 February 2023.

British prosecutors have authorised charges to be brought against five Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia for almost three years.

The three men and two women are accused of "conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy" between August 30, 2020 and February 8, 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

“Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova were previously charged on February 11 2023 with possession of false identity documents with improper intention under section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010.”

They are all due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 26.

The five were arrested by the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command in February under the Official Secrets Act.

The charges follow an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

"Criminal proceedings against the five individuals are active and they each have the right to a fair trial.

It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.

"The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider."

Last month it emerged that Roussev, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, Dzhambazov, of Harrow, north-west London, and Ivanova, of the same Harrow address, were facing charges which allege they were in possession of 34 identity documents, some of which were suspected to be false.