The group was involved in a number of surveillance and intelligence operations against people and places of interest to Russia.
The police have revealed six operations starting in 2020 based on messages on Telegram from the cell leader. Operations were carried out in the UK, Austria, Germany, and Montenegro. A former businessman in Austria with ties to the scandal-ridden company Wirecard served as a link between the cell and Russian intelligence, according to London police's anti-terrorism unit.
The methods and equipment used by the cell are described as taken from a spy novel. Fake passports, hidden cameras, so-called honey traps, and cover names taken from the children's film "Minions" were revealed during the investigation.
In the cell's headquarters, a rundown former inn in the coastal town of Great Yarmouth, a "treasure trove" of spy equipment was discovered during a search, according to the police. The equipment had been hidden in everything from ties to soda bottles and teddy bears.
Among the spy cell's targets was an investigative journalist from the group Bellingcat, who had exposed the Russian connection to the novichok poisonings in Salisbury, UK, in 2018. The cell also planned to eavesdrop on Ukrainian soldiers being trained in Germany.
The motive for the cell members was money. They were sentenced to between five and ten years in prison, according to the court.
