Russian speaker recruited Ukrainians to carry out arson attacks on UK PM Starmer's properties, court hears

A Russian speaker recruited Ukrainian men to set fire to properties linked to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in May 2025, a London court heard on April 29, 2026.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the jury at the Old Bailey that the case concerns three fires deliberately set in a residential area of north London over three nights in May 2025. Ukrainian nationals Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Petro Pochynok, 35, and Ukrainian-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, are charged with conspiring to damage property by fire between 1 April and 13 May 2025. Lavrynovych is also charged with damaging property by fire with intent to endanger life on 11 and 12 May 2025 at two properties in north London connected to Sir Keir Starmer. All three defendants deny the charges.

On 8 May 2025, a car previously owned by the prime minister was found on fire in Kentish Town, north London. Three days later, on 11 May 2025, a fire was discovered at flats linked to Sir Keir in Islington. On 12 May 2025, a fire was discovered at the entrance to Sir Keir's Kentish Town home, which was being rented out.

Atkinson said Lavrynovych was offered payment to set the fires by a contact using the name or pseudonym "El Money" on the Telegram messaging app. El Money communicated in Russian, in contrast to the Ukrainian otherwise used by the defendants, Atkinson said. He told jurors it was "no part of your considerations" to decide who El Money was or what reason he might have had for co-ordinating the alleged actions.

CCTV footage showed Lavrynovych buying white spirit at a B&Q in south London on 6 May 2025, which Atkinson described as an "accelerant". The prosecutor said fragments of evidence on Lavrynovych's phone suggested he may have sent a "targeting pack, explaining where to go and what to do, together with a means or promise of payment in cryptocurrency".

In the early hours of 7 May 2025, Lavrynovych travelled from home to north London and back, captured on bus CCTV and phone data. An image of the car, timed at 03:08 BST, was found on Lavrynovych's phone, Atkinson said. "He was making a reconnaissance trip to prepare for the following night," Atkinson claimed.

Shortly before 22:00 BST on 7 May, Lavrynovych sent Pochynok a Telegram message saying: "Look, we won't talk much on the phone. At that address, there'll be a car, need to check if it's there. If it is there then basically today we'll do the job. We'll have money. And this week, if we plan everything well today, tomorrow there may be another one, we'll make more money." Soon after midnight on 8 May, Lavrynovych sent Pochynok messages saying "hello" and "it's on", before leaving home in Sydenham and travelling to north London. Atkinson said CCTV images showed the two defendants travelling across London to meet at the "burn site".

After a further exchange of messages with El Money, Lavrynovych returned to the road on 12 May, where he started a fire at the front door of a property that the prime minister had been renting out to his sister-in-law, according to Atkinson. El Money sent Lavrynovych a message on 12 May 2025: "Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I'll send you money, you need to leave the city. If the police detain you, secretly write the word, 'geranium' and I'll send a lawyer to you, I'll give you money for a week and a new phone. We won't be in touch for a week." Lavrynovych later sent messages to El Money "chasing payment", said Atkinson.

The trial continues and is expected to last three weeks.