Russia-linked arson attacks show bad actors targeting UK, says Starmer

Roman Lavrynovych (left) and Stanislav Carpiuc were found guilty on Monday of conspiring to commit arson. Photograph: Metropolitan police/AP View image in fullscreen Roman Lavrynovych (left) and Stanislav Carpiuc were found guilty on Monday of conspiring to commit arson. Photograph: Metropolitan police/AP Russia-linked arson attacks show bad actors targeting UK, says Starmer Prime minister says country needs to resist those who seek to ‘exploit division’ and ‘destabilise democracy’ The trial of two Russian-linked arsonists who targeted property connected to Keir Starmer shows that the UK is under attack from bad actors who want to “exploit division” and “destabilise our democracy”, the prime minister has said. Roman Lavrynovych, 22, from Ukraine, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, from Romania, were found guilty on Monday of conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property linked to the prime minister, and appear to have operated under the instruction of an online handler with links to Russia. Speaking at the G7 in Évian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday, Starmer said the attack on the house had “clearly impacted and affected my family”. Lavrynovych and Carpiuc will be sentenced on Friday. Their co-defendant, Petro Pochynok, 35, was cleared. Lavrynovych was also convicted of damaging two properties by fire, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, on 11 and 12 May last year. The sentencing comes during a period of heightened tension between Russia and the UK. On Sunday a Russian shadow fleet vessel containing 98,000 tonnes of oil was intercepted by British troops in the Channel, and on Tuesday a Russian warship fired warning shots at a British-flagged yacht. Starmer said the warning shots were “deeply concerning and reckless”, and said the UK was dealing with proxy attacks from Russia “every single day”. View image in fullscreen The prime minister made the comments on the sidelines of this week’s G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains in France. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/PA Central to the arson case was a Russian-speaking Telegram contact using the pseudonym “El Money” who allegedly ordered the attacks and communicated in Russian with Lavrynovych as early as September 2024. “There’s one winner in this case: the anonymous devil who manipulated, used and won,” James Scobie KC, representing Lavrynovych, told the court in closing remarks. Saying little was known about him, he added: “But Russia – let’s call it out – Russia are interested in what this country does in support of Ukraine. This person, or people, spoke excellent Russian,” said Scobie. Handler with ties to Russia appears to have directed arson attacks on Starmer-linked property Read more Some security sources had said that an outlandish and false theory that emerged after the attack – that the defendants were aggrieved sex workers who torched Starmer’s home because they had not been paid – could have been created by far-right figures in the UK and amplified by hostile Russian agents. Asked if he