LONDON — A British court sent two men to prison Friday for setting fire to property linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a plot orchestrated by a mysterious Russian-speaking figure.
Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were imprisoned for 7 years and 2 years, respectively, after being found guilty of conspiracy to damage property by fire.
The men targeted a car and two properties linked to Starmer over three nights in May 2025 on the orders of a Russian-speaking figure going by the name of “El Money,” according to prosecutors. The identity of El Money, who communicated on the messaging app Telegram with Lavrynovych, was never revealed and they were not charged.
Lavrynovych was a “useful idiot, a fool,” who could be manipulated to his handler’s advantage, Judge Neil Garnham Garnham said. The court heard that Carpuic was a middleman tasked with facilitating payment — which never came — and recruiting someone to film the fires.
The plot fits the description of Russian state-backed sabotage, Cmdr. Dominic Murphy has said previously. He oversaw the initial investigation into the fires as head of the counterterrorism team at the Metropolitan Police before retiring in March.
He said evidence gathered by police showed that El Money spoke Russian and is “likely to be in Russia.” El Money’s methods were “very similar” to those known to be used by Russian intelligence services acting in the U.K. Such plots, he said, often have “very senior sign-off.”
Western officials say Russia is carrying out a sabotage campaign against European countries that support Ukraine. The Associated Press has tracked at least 192 attacks across Europe since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that include arson and cyberattacks as well as attempted assassinations.
When asked by AP in June if Russia is waging a covert war against the West, President Vladimir Putin brushed off the allegations.
The arsonist was prime material for the operation, his lawyer says
Addressing Lavrynovych in the dock, Garnham said he agreed to carry out this “mindless piece of arson for money.”
“You are not a man of great principle. And you were easily bought,” Garnham said. He said that Lavrynovych is a man of “significantly low-level intellectual functioning,” and was therefore vulnerable to manipulation.
He accepted the job from El Money as he had also accepted “other grubby little tasks,” Garnham said.
Lavrynovych’s defense lawyer James Scobie said his client was “low-hanging fruit” used by El Money to deliberately target the prime minister and was prime “fodder for this type of infiltration.” Lavrynovych, he said, had brought shame on his family in Ukraine where his father worked with the military before he died.
The U.K. Home Office called the fires an “abhorrent attack” and said those responsible have been brought to justice. It did not respond to requests for comment about whether the British government planned to attribute the fires to Russia.
Lavrynovych was tasked with setting and filming the fires over several days in May 2025, according to evidence presented during his six-week trial. El Money recruited him online and sent detailed instructions, including the locations of the targets and how to mix flammable liquids from a hardware store.
Anonymous people are recruiting online, police warn
The attacks did not cause injuries or major damage, but the prime minister’s sister-in-law, Judith Alexander, said she was left “struggling to breathe” after smoke filled her house in the third attack. She and her family were staying at the residence, which had been Starmer’s home before he became prime minister.
Messages recovered from Lavrynovych’s phone showed he discussed 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.
He was not charged with that activity and it will be investigated, said Cmdr. Helen Flanagan, the current head of the Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism team.
Counterterrorism police are dealing with more and more crimes, such as arson, which are being directed by anonymous people online promising payment, Flanagan said in a statement after the sentencing.
People who consider carrying out such activity should “think again,” because they could, like Lavrynovych, not get paid and go to jail instead, she said.
Burrows writes for the Associated Press.
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