UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was the target of an arson campaign that investigators now say was a part of a broader Russian sabotage and disinformation operation directed from Moscow. According to the BBC, Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Ukrainian-born Romanian citizen Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, have been convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiring to commit arson on Starmer’s property, while the third man connected to the arson, Petro Pochynok, 35 was found not guilty. The attacks last year in north London set fire to a Toyota RAV4 previously owned by Starmer, as well as entrances to his two properties.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Evidence presented in court showed that Lavrynovych had been recruited via Telegram, by a Russian-speaking handler saved in his phone as “EL” (referred to as “EL Money” in court), who led him through a series of escalating tasks – from vandalizing infrastructure with graffiti and posters to setting the three fires over the course of five days in May. “Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I’ll send you the money you need to leave the city,” the message said, evidence that Lavrynovych had been recruited to target the UK’s head of government. The arson attack was just one part of the campaign Russian operatives reportedly ran their campaign remotely through social media and Telegram, using fake far-right and Muslim communities to incite division and fear in the UK, while the Russian embassy rejected “any attempt to associate Russia or its foreign ministry with unlawful activities.”