Starmer pleased 'justice has been done' after arson attacks

Starmer pleased 'justice has been done' after arson attacks Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Anna Lamche EPA Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he is pleased "justice has been done" after two men were convicted of arson attacks on property connected to him. Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Ukrainian-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, were found guilty on Monday of conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property and a car in 2025. Shortly after the verdicts, a BBC Panorama investigation revealed that Russia was behind the arson attacks. Speaking from the G7 summit in France, Starmer said he was "very pleased for my family's sake" that the men were convicted. Prosecutors found the arson attacks were carried out in 2025 after a suspect was recruited online by Russian-speaking Telegram user "El Money" who promised him payment. A BBC Panorama investigation uncovered evidence suggesting he is a 23-year-old Russian diplomat Evgeny Lyukshin, the son of a senior official who has been schooled in information warfare by spies and propagandists. The BBC found that "El Money" offered Russian citizenship in return for other attacks, and glorified Putin in messages. Accounts based in Russian also spread spread disinformation on the motive for the attacks. Sir Keir's comments on Tuesday came as the UK announced a fresh wave of sanctions on Russia targeting the Kremlin's "shadow fleet" used to move Russian oil and gas, and the finance networks used to evade Western sanctions. "These sanctions target the vessels, the money and the actors propping up Russia's war economy, and in turn, threatening European security", Sir Keir said earlier on Tuesday. That decision followed the boarding of an alleged Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel on Sunday. Earlier on Tuesday, Sir Richard Moore, the former head of MI6, warned the Russian President Vladimir Putin is "trying to intimidate" the UK with sabotage, arson and cyber attacks on British streets. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Richard said proxy attacks showed Britain needed to have a "discussion" about "the balance of resourcing for security and defence". The government and intelligence services have not yet said the Kremlin was behind the incident, but Sir Richard commended the BBC's reporting and said "we shouldn't be surprised at all" if Russian involvement was confirmed. Sir Richard claimed Putin was under pressure over the war in Ukraine which meant he was "quite keen to expand the battlefield a bit" by using sabotage, cyber attacks and arson in the hope it would be "disruptive, distracting and intimidating to those of us who are supporting Ukraine". Sir Keir said in April that "the use of proxies by hostile states in this country is a growing concern and a real concern" , and the UK must "deal with malign state actors". Sir Richard, who left MI6 last year, said the UK should address the concern by "doubling down" on its support of Ukra