Two men found guilty of conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property connected to
Keir Starmer appear to have operated under the instruction of an online handler with links to Russia.
Roman Lavrynovych, 22, from Ukraine, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, from Romania, were found guilty at the Old Bailey on Monday. Another Ukrainian man, Petro Pochynok, 35, was cleared of the same charge.
Lavrynovych was also convicted of damaging two properties by fire, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, on 11 and 12 May last year. He was acquitted of two counts of committing arson with intent to risk life.
During a months-long trial, the jury heard that the three men had been offered payment to set fire to a car and two houses linked to Starmer by a mysterious Russian-speaking figure named El Money, or “Hroshi” in Ukrainian.
Reports in the Financial Times and BBC on Monday suggested that the attacks had been coordinated through Telegram messages from an account with links to a network based in Russia. The BBC reported that a 23-year-old Russian diplomat, Evgeny Lyukshin, had masterminded the attacks.