Two Men Convicted at Old Bailey Over Arson Plot Against Prime Minister Starmer, Orchestrated by Unidentified Russian-Speaking Figure
A London jury on Monday, June 15, found two men guilty of conspiring to set fire to properties linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a plot orchestrated through Telegram by an unidentified Russian-speaking figure who called himself “El Money.” Roman Lavrynovych, 22, a Ukrainian national, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were found guilty at London’s Central Criminal Court of a conspiracy to damage property by fire. A third defendant, Petro Pochynok, 35, was acquitted of the charge. Sentencing is scheduled for Friday, June 20. INQUIRER.net
The fires in May 2025 damaged the home Starmer had moved out of when he became prime minister, as well as an apartment building he had previously owned a share of, and destroyed his former Toyota SUV. No one was injured in the three blazes. INQUIRER.net
The Recruiter Behind the Plot
A Russian-speaking ringleader who went by the name “El Money” hatched the scheme and offered Lavrynovych money through the Telegram messaging app to torch the properties and obtain video evidence that could be posted online to draw attention to the attack. El Money’s identity was never revealed and he was not charged. INQUIRER.net
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of the counterterrorism team at the Metropolitan Police, said 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. “Clearly the tasking was to intimidate and create fear for the prime minister and to attack the U.K.,” Flanagan told reporters. INQUIRER.net
How the Fires Were Carried Out
El Money provided detailed instructions to Lavrynovych on the targets, how to mix flammable substances, and steps to avoid being caught. Carpiuc acted as a middleman, and Pochynok had allegedly been recruited to record video of the fires so Lavrynovych could receive payment. INQUIRER.net
The fires were set in the dead of night and occupants sleeping in the homes awoke to smoke billowing through their front doors. Starmer’s sister-in-law, who was living in his home, heard a loud bang and struggled to breathe as smoke filled a stairway. Her nine-year-old daughter was terrified. An occupant of the apartment building retreated to the roof after discovering hallways full of smoke. INQUIRER.net
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. INQUIRER.net
Lavrynovych’s Defence
Lavrynovych admitted setting the fires and said he needed the bounty of 3,000 pounds — approximately $4,000 — in cryptocurrency to pay for medical treatment his father needed. He said he only followed through because he had been threatened by El Money, that he had no idea who owned the properties until after the fires, and that he did not intend to hurt anyone. He told police he did not even know who Starmer was. INQUIRER.net
Lavrynovych was also convicted of two additional counts of arson that could have recklessly endangered life, beyond the conspiracy charge. After the fires, El Money promised Lavrynovych payment and told him to send a secret message using the code word “geranium” if he was detained by police. Shortly after receiving that instruction, Lavrynovych was arrested. The court was told he never received any money for setting the three fires. INQUIRER.net
Lavrynovych was additionally found guilty on two separate arson counts, making him the more severely exposed of the two convicted defendants ahead of Friday’s sentencing.
Starmer’s Response
Describing the incident in parliament in May 2025, Starmer called it “an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for.” Starmer and his family had moved out of the Kentish Town home after he was elected in July 2024 and now live at the prime minister’s official Downing Street residence, so neither he nor his immediate family was present during any of the three fires. Free Malaysia Today
Background
The three incidents took place on three nights between May 8 and May 12, 2025. A Toyota RAV4 that Starmer had once owned was set ablaze on May 8, just down the street from his former home in Kentish Town, north London. The door of an apartment building where he once lived was set on fire on May 11, and on May 12 the doorway of his home was charred after being set ablaze. Lavrynovych appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court within days, accused of three counts of arson with intent to endanger life, and was remanded in custody. He spoke through an interpreter to confirm his name and address in south London. Prosecutors said at the outset that the case was not being treated as terrorism, though the judge noted the attacks were plainly coordinated and must have had some motive or purpose behind them. A tentative trial date had been set in October 2025, with proceedings ultimately commencing in 2026. Free Malaysia Today + 2
What Happens Next
Lavrynovych and Carpiuc are scheduled to be sentenced at London’s Central Criminal Court on Friday, June 20. Commander Flanagan said the Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism unit continues to investigate El Money’s identity and the chain of command behind the Telegram-coordinated operation, though she confirmed no hostile state attribution has been established. The acquittal of Petro Pochynok closes that strand of the prosecution. Whether the investigation into El Money’s true identity or any state-level connection will be pursued through formal diplomatic channels has not been confirmed by British authorities. INQUIRER.net
