How to Use LinkedIn to Find Spies: the Bulgarian cell

In an explosive investigation published in March, journalists from BBC News used open source investigative research as well as their sources to track down and name two Bulgarian women who spied for Russia. At Summer Conference they discuss how the story came about, and how they used LinkedIn to get it.

Two women who spied for Russia tracked down and named by BBC. By Daniel De Simone, Chris Bell, Tom Beal and Nikolai Atefie for the BBC. 24 March 2025.

How spy ring did Russia’s dirty work from the UK. By Chris Bell and Tom Beal for the BBC. 7 March 2025. Featuring information on the plans to assassinate our past #CIJSummer speaker Roman Dobrokhotov.

Bulgarians guilty of spying for Russia in the UK. By Daniel De Simone and Amy Walker for the BBC. Featuring information on the plans to assassinate our past #CIJSummer speaker Christo Grozev.

Daniel De Simone

Daniel De Simone is investigations correspondent for BBC News, where he mainly researches stories involving injustice, crime, and terrorism. Daniel was educated at Goldsmiths College.

Chris Bell

Chris Bell works for BBC News Investigations in London, working particularly on stories involving crime, the courts or open source investigation for broadcast and digital outlets.

Tom Beal

Tom Beal is a journalist in the BBC News Investigations team in London where he has a particular interest in financial, political and legal stories. Tom has a background in video journalism and has directed longform documentaries for the BBC

26 June 2025 17.10–18.10

Location: TBC

Talk

All levels

Investigation