Two men have been convicted for arson attacks targeting property linked to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in north London in May 2025. Roman Lavrynovych, 22, was found guilty of arson, reckless endangerment, and conspiracy to commit arson, while 27-year-old Stanislav Carpiuc was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson related to the incidents. A third defendant, Petro Pochynok, was acquitted of all charges. The verdict was delivered by London's Old Bailey court on June 15, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
The attacks unfolded over five days in May 2025. A Toyota vehicle formerly owned by Starmer was set on fire on May 8. Subsequently, arsonists targeted two houses linked to the Prime Minister, including his family residence and a former home, between May 11 and May 15 [1, 2, 5, 6, 8].
Lavrynovych was recruited and directed by a Russian-speaking handler on Telegram known as "El Money," who is believed to operate from Russia. Investigations connected this handler and the conspiracy to the Russian hacker group NoName057, which has also targeted Taiwanese government and infrastructure sites. Lavrynovych admitted to previous involvement in extremist anti-Islamic vandalism orchestrated by "El Money" and the Direct Action group, both controlled by actors in Russia. However, he claimed he did not know the attacked properties were linked to Starmer until after the fires were set [2, 3, 4, 6, 7].
During the trial, Lavrynovych expressed hatred for Russian President Vladimir Putin and stated that "El Money" threatened his family in Ukraine. He said, "I needed money because my family in Ukraine required medical care. El Money threatened me about my family's safety." The Metropolitan Police could not confirm whether Lavrynovych was paid for the Starmer-related attacks, though he acknowledged receiving payment for earlier criminal actions under "El Money's" direction [3, 4, 7].
The arson acts aimed to sow social division and fear, spreading extremist and anti-Islamic propaganda online. The Russian Embassy denied any involvement or association with the attacks or the handler "El Money." Metropolitan Police anti-terror chief Helen Flanagan said, "There is no evidence that Russia was behind this attack" [2, 3, 4, 7, 8].
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attacks "an attack on democracy and the values we stand for," condemning the violence targeting his properties [6]. Former UK National Cyber Security Centre head Ciaran Martin added that "in Russia, there is a natural flow of cooperation and technical exchange between state intelligence and criminal groups," linking state actors to criminal cyber operations [3].
Sentencing for Lavrynovych and Carpiuc is scheduled for June 19, 2026 [2, 3, 4, 6, 7].
