A London court convicted two men on Monday of plotting a series of arson attacks on properties linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, orchestrated by a mysterious Russian-speaking figure who remains unidentified and uncharged.
Roman Lavrynovych, 22, a Ukrainian national, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, a Romanian citizen, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of conspiring to damage property by fire. Lavrynovych was additionally convicted on two counts of arson reckless of danger to life. A third defendant, Petro Pochynok, 35, was acquitted. The men are due to be sentenced Friday.
The attacks
The three fires — all set overnight in May 2025 — targeted a Toyota car formerly owned by Starmer, the front door of a north London apartment building he had once held a directorial stake in, and his former home in Kentish Town, which had been rented to his sister-in-law after he moved into Downing Street. Nobody was injured.
Occupants were nonetheless placed in serious danger. Starmer's sister-in-law heard a loud bang and struggled to breathe as smoke filled the stairway, her nine-year-old daughter left terrified. A resident of the apartment building was forced onto the roof after finding the hallways engulfed in smoke.
