LONDON (AP) — Two men were convicted Monday of a plot orchestrated by a mysterious Russian-speaking figure to set fire to property linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The fires in May 2025 damaged the home Starmer moved out of when he became prime minister, as well as an apartment building he once owned a share of and destroyed his former Toyota SUV. Nobody was injured in the blazes.
A Russian-speaking ringleader who went by the name “El
Money” hatched the scheme and offered Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych money through the Telegram messaging app to torch the properties and get video of the evidence that could be posted online to draw attention to the attack.
El Money’s identity was never revealed and he was not charged.
There was no evidence proving a hostile state orchestrated the fires because police never discovered El Money's motive or who the figure worked for, said Cmdr. Helen Flanagan, head of the counterterrorism team at the Metropolitan Police.
“Clearly the tasking was to intimidate and create fear for the prime minister and to attack the U.K.,” Flanagan said.
Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were found guilty in London's Central Criminal Court of a conspiracy to damage property by fire. Petro Pochynok, 35, was acquitted of the charge.
Lavrynovych was also convicted of two counts of arson that could have recklessly endangered life.
Lavrynovych said he needed money and admitted he set the fires, saying he wanted the bounty of 3,000 pounds ($4,000) in cryptocurrency to pay for medical treatment his father needed.
But he said he only followed through because he had been threatened by El Money. He said he had no idea who owned the property until after the fires and said he didn’t intend to hurt anyone. He told police he didn't even know who Starmer was.
El Money provided detailed instructions to Lavrynovych on the targets, how to mix flammable substances and steps to avoid being caught.
Messages recovered from Lavrynovych’s phone showed he discussed setting the fires as well as other vandalism he conducted for money, such as painting the windshields of cars black and putting up anti-Islam posters in Muslim areas of London.
After the fires, El Money promised Lavrynovych he would pay and told the Ukrainian to send him a secret message with the code word “geranium” if he was detained by police. Shortly after Lavrynovych received that message he was arrested. The court was told he never received any money for setting the three fires.
Carpiuc acted as a middleman, and Pochynok allegedly was recruited to record video of the fires so Lavrynovych could get paid.
The fires were set in the dead of night and occupants sleeping in the homes awoke to smoke billowing in their front doors.
Starmer’s sister-in-law, who was living in his home, heard a loud bang and said she struggled to breathe as smoke filled a stairway. Her 9-year-old daughter was terrified.
An occupant of the apartment building retreated to the roof after discovering hallways full of smoke.
The two convicts are scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
