Two men have been jailed at the Old Bailey for conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property and a car connected to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in a plot the BBC has revealed was ordered on behalf of Russia.
Two men have been sentenced at the Old Bailey over a conspiracy to set fire to property and a vehicle linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in attacks the BBC has revealed were ordered on behalf of Russia. Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, was jailed for seven years, while Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, a Ukrainian-born Romanian national, received a two-year sentence. A third man, Petro Pochynok, 35, was found not guilty of the conspiracy charge.
The attacks
The court heard that a Toyota car previously owned by the Prime Minister was found on fire on a street he used to live on in Kentish Town on 8 May 2025. Three days later, on 11 May, a fire broke out at flats in nearby Islington linked to Sir Keir, where he had lived some years earlier. The following day, a fire was discovered at the entrance to his Kentish Town home, a property he still owned and was renting out to his sister-in-law, Judith Alexander. Giving evidence at the trial, Alexander described billowing black smoke going up the stairs of the property while she, her daughter and her partner were inside.
The convictions
Lavrynovych and Carpiuc were found guilty on Monday of conspiring together, and with others, to damage property by fire between 1 April and 13 May 2025. Lavrynovych was also convicted on alternate counts of damaging property by fire while being reckless as to whether life was endangered, though he was acquitted of the more serious charge of damaging property by fire with intent to endanger life. Sentencing him to seven years, Mr Justice Garnham described Lavrynovych’s role in the plot, while Carpiuc, who received a two-year sentence, was said by the judge to have played a “supporting role” in what he called the “utterly reckless” attacks.
A plot ordered by Russia
According to the BBC’s reporting, the attacks were ordered on behalf of Russia. Lavrynovych was recruited by a Russian-speaking Telegram user known only as “EL,” who promised him payment for carrying out the arson. It was not the first task he had allegedly been given by the same unidentified figure, having previously been paid to put up far-right posters.
The judge’s assessment
Sentencing Lavrynovych, Mr Justice Garnham described him as a “useful idiot” who could be easily manipulated, telling him he had been “easily bought” and had “accepted the job as you had accepted other grubby little tasks.”
What happened after the arson
Following the attack, “EL” contacted Lavrynovych on 12 May, telling him he would be paid in cryptocurrency and instructing him to dispose of his clothes, before urging him to leave the city. Lavrynovych was arrested only hours later, after officers stormed his home in Sydenham. During a subsequent police interview, reported by the BBC, Lavrynovych said he had no idea who the Prime Minister was and had never heard of Keir Starmer.
The defence case
Representing Lavrynovych, James Scobie KC described his client as a “complete and utter foot soldier” and “fodder for this type of infiltration.” Scobie told the court that Lavrynovych was remorseful, referencing the “shame he has brought on the family in Ukraine.” He also told the court that a message from “EL” had made clear that damaging the front door of the property was sufficient for the purposes of the plot, so long as the attack generated media coverage.
