A gang who firebombed Sir Keir Starmer‘s home in a suspected Russian spy plot face years behind bars.
Two Ukrainian men were hired by a mystery Russian figure to target the Prime Minister – setting fire to his family home, a former car and another property he was linked to in a plot which experts say bears all the hallmarks of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.
Lured by the promise of making £3,000 in ‘easy money’, Roman Lavrynovych, 21 and Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, set fire to Sir Keir’s constituency home where his sister-in-law was staying and a flat in Islington which he had previously managed in the early hours of May 11 and May 12.
Now, after their conviction today it can be revealed that their tasker – a mystery Russian figure who has never been identified – is likely to have been working for one of Russia’s shadowy intelligence units, which have a history of recruiting low level criminals and impoverished immigrants for sabotage bids.
MI5 and police have been unable to trace the figure known to Lavrynovych only as ‘El Money’, who issued instructions via the encrypted Telegram social media app.
But security experts think it is significant that shortly after the attacks, unfounded rumours quickly spread across the internet and on social media sites claiming that what had happened was in fact some form of personal dispute.
It was said that the men involved, who were part-time models, were in fact rent boys with whom the Prime Minister had fallen out.
A Toyota Rav4 which was once owned by Sir Keir was set alight in Kentish Town last May
Experts believe the spurious suggestion that the Prime Minister may have been in some form of relationship is a classic smear tactic of the GRU.
Former British military intelligence officer Philip Ingram said: ‘This has all the hallmarks of the GRU.
‘It is a classic smear campaign by the Russians to undermine Starmer’s support for Ukraine and undermine him personally in this suggestion that there was something going on.
‘At the time of this attack there had been questions about Starmer’s integrity after the Lord Alli scandal.
‘Recruiting Ukrainians to carry this out is not only an attempt to smear Keir Starmer but also encourage anti-Ukraine sentiment.
‘It is a straight out of the GRU Russian playbook.’
There has been speculation that Vladimir Putin may even have sanctioned the plot, but MI5 has been unable to establish any links to the Russian leader.
Mr Ingram said: ‘Putin may have known or may not. It could have been as simple as being led by the head of station at the Russian Embassy in London.
‘This is not necessarily Kremlin led. Intelligence officers are encouraged to take initiative to spread disinformation and create as much chaos as possible.
‘In that sense, this was a crude but also sophisticated attack which is straight out of the GRU playbook.’
In pre-trial hearings which can now be reported, the defence sought information about any links El Money might have with a foreign intelligence service.
But Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, said police had found no evidence to disclose.
Lavrynovych, who lives with his grandmother in London, was originally recruited by ‘El Money’ to put up posters around London whipping up anti-immigration sentiment.
Carpiuc, who had posted on a modelling website that he wanted to be the ‘top male model in the world’, was also offered cash to assist.
Born in Ukraine, he had worked in construction before becoming a receptionist at The Omega Hotel near Hyde Park.
He attended Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent, where he studied business.
It emerged during the trial that Carpiuc was wanted in Ukraine for refusing compulsory military service.
El Money offered £2,000 in cryptocurrency to set fire to a Toyota RAV4 owned by the Prime Minister which he had sold to a neighbour.
Following the car blaze on May 8, Lavrynovych, set alight the front door of a property in Islington, which was managed by a company that had listed Sir Keir as a director, and his constituency home in Kentish Town, north London.
He bought fuel from B&Q days before carrying out the attacks.
No one was hurt in the blaze but the Prime Minister’s sister-in-law, Judith Alexander, feared for her life.
She told the Old Bailey trial of her terror after hearing an explosion of flames downstairs. She said: ‘All of a sudden I heard two bangs.
‘It was very loud and sounded like two wheelie bins had been thrown at the door. I said to [her partner] ‘what was that bang?’ and he woke up.
‘I didn’t see anyone on the street but when I looked down I saw smoke and an orange glow at the front door. The smoke was black, billowing smoke.
‘I saw it and said ‘Oh my, there is a fire outside the house!’ I was scared, I called 999 and asked for the fire brigade and asked the operator to inform the police, which they did.
‘I went down to see what had happened and noticed the wires by the front door were on fire.
‘There was lots of smoke coming through the front door, the stairs started to fill with smoke.’
She said her daughter’s room was directly above the fire.
Ms Alexander continued: ‘She was woken by the smoke and came upstairs to our room and said she could smell smoke. We could see the smoke getting thicker going upstairs.
‘The house was full of smoke, I have asthma and was struggling to breathe.’
Images showed the porch, doorway and door of the property was severely damaged by fire, but Ms Alexander and her family were not hurt.
Only after the final attack, did El Money warn the arsonists they had attacked the home of ‘a very high-ranking person in Britain’.
He gave Lavrynovych the code word ‘geranium’ to use if he was arrested and the code words ‘scarlet sunset’ if he was safe.
Lavrynovych sent a series of increasingly desperate messages to El Money seeking payment, which never came through.
Police swooped 24 hours later finding the phone he had used and trainers he had worn in the attack.
Lavrynovych’s barrister, James Scobie KC, described his own client as ‘a flawed, somewhat feckless, inadequate, gullible, immature, trusting fool’.
He said the men in court were ‘low hanging fruit’ and added: ‘The reality of who we are dealing with in this case has never really been touched on.
‘Their aim was to make a statement that there are dark forces out there and you can’t deal with it.’
Officers recovered messages from the pair’s phones, but many of the messages had been deleted.
Carpiuc told police he was drinking with friends when the fires were set.
Lavrynovych admitted the arson, but claimed he wanted the money for medical treatment for his father, although it emerged he had recently spent £7,000 on used cars.
Today after seven hours of deliberations, Lavrynovych was convicted of two counts of damaging property by being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
He was cleared of two charges of damaging property by fire with intent to endanger life.
Carpiuc, was also convicted of conspiring along with others to damage property by fire.
A third Ukrainian accused of involvement, Petro Pochynok, 35, was cleared of conspiring along with others to damage property.
Lavrynovych and Carpiuc will be sentenced on Friday.
Following the verdicts, a Government spokesman said: ‘This was an abhorrent attack and those responsible have now been brought to justice for their acts.
‘We thank our partners in law enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service for bringing these criminals to justice.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said ‘no-one should face intimidation, threats or attacks’ due to their role in politics.
She said: ‘Keir Starmer and I disagree on many things, but good people across the political spectrum will welcome today’s verdicts, condemn these appalling attacks which seem to have been sponsored by Russia and wish the PM and his family well.
‘Whatever our political differences, no one should face intimidation, threats or attacks because they hold public office.
‘Democracy is settled at the ballot box, not through fear or violence and definitely not through foreign interference from hostile countries.’
Frank Ferguson from the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘These were deliberate and dangerous acts of arson carried out against properties and a vehicle linked to the Prime Minister, and they posed a serious risk to life.
‘Such offences go beyond damage to property – they are intended to intimidate and undermine public confidence, and that will not be tolerated.
‘Today’s convictions demonstrate that those who commit criminal acts, including acts of arson, to pursue their, or others’ agendas, will be investigated thoroughly and prosecuted robustly.’
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