Russian diplomat revealed as mastermind behind Keir Starmer firebomb attacks

The shadowy figure who recruited Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, for arson attacks on property linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer may have connections to the Russian state

Two men found guilty over a series of arson attacks on property linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were working for a Russian-speaking taskmaster.

Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, were found guilty of conspiring ⁠to commit arson attacks on property and a car linked to the Prime Minister. Co-defendant Petro Pochynok, 35, was cleared of the same charge.

A Toyota RAV4 which had once belonged to Starmer was set ablaze in Kentish Town in north London last May. Two houses were set alight days later, including a north London home owned by the Prime Minister and occupied by his sister-in-law and her family.

The attacks took place in the middle of the night while people were asleep. The Old Bailey heard they posed a serious threat to life and left householders terrified.

The prosecution told the court Lavrynovych carried out the arson attacks after being recruited online by Russian-speaking Telegram user "El Money", who promised him £3,000 in cryptocurrency if the blazes were filmed and made it into the news.

But links between the shadowy handler who ordered the attacks and the Russian state have now been unearthed. The BBC reported that the attacks on Starmer’s property were part of a much wider campaign of sabotage, provocation and lies that led all the way to the Russian state.

"EL" is in fact a young Russian diplomat, schooled by spies and propagandists in information warfare, with links to the highest levels of power in Moscow, the broadcaster said.

Lavrynovych, who saved the contact as “El Money” in his phone, had come across the mysterious figure in a Telegram group for Ukrainians in London looking for work. However, the same account was posting pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian messages in other Telegram channels.

He posted in one chat, saying: "It is obvious that Putin is the leader of the white race."

Speaking to Russians in other Telegram channels, he shared documents from NATO and the CIA, saying: "My father leaks part of it to me, it was not for nothing that he went to Europe," the BBC reported.

Investigations found that "EL" was sowing hatred online. He was behind the fake far-right group Direct Action, which promoted Tommy Robinson, and where "EL" paid people for committing Islamophobic attacks on mosques. He also ran a fake Islamic organisation called the Takbir Foundation, which tried to pay people to paint pro-Islamist graffiti as part of "EL’s" scheme to stoke division and inflame the far right.

The BBC found a Russian diplomat, Evgeny Lyukshinn - initials EL - in the Direct Action Telegram group, as well as in several other groups aimed at stirring up hate in the UK, including one called Radio Southport set up in the aftermath of the stabbings there.

Lyukshin, 23, is the son of a senior Russian diplomat who previously served as counsellor at the embassy in Denmark. He also studied at a "media school" at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, specialising in "information warfare" taught by spies and close Putin allies, where he discussed "conducting pro-Russian propaganda", the BBC said.

While it has not been confirmed that Evgeny Lyukshinn is "EL", the young operative has been confirmed as being in the fake right-wing Direct Action group, among others, and was trained at the specialist school.

A Financial Times investigation has also identified a Russian online sabotage network as allegedly being behind the attacks. However, a Counter Terrorism Policing spokesperson said it had found no evidence linking any specific person, group or organisation to the "El Money" social media account.

In the aftermath of the attacks, "El Money" encouraged Lavrynovych to flee, saying: "Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I’ll send you money, you need to leave the city.

"If the police detain you, secretly write the word 'geranium' and I’ll send a lawyer to you, I’ll give you money for a week and a new phone. We won’t be in touch for a week."

Lavrynovych, of Sydenham, south London, was charged on May 15 last year. Two days later, Carpiuc, of Romford, east London, was stopped at Luton Airport as he waited for a flight to Romania.

Mr Justice Garnham remanded Lavrynovych and Carpiuc into custody to be sentenced on Friday.

In his defence, construction worker Lavrynovych admitted setting fire to the property but claimed he had been threatened by "El Money". Previously, "El Money" had tasked him with painting racist graffiti on an Islamic community centre and posting anti-Muslim fliers for money.

Hotel worker Carpiuc said he had refused to get involved and told Lavrynovych the plan was "stupid" and illegal. His former housemate, Mr Pochynok, who was working in construction and as a Harrods delivery driver, told jurors that he did not know about the car arson plan until it was too late.

Mr Pochynok, of Islington, north London, said he thought Lavrynovych wanted him to help a mutual friend with heavy suitcases and that he ran away when he was handed a camera phone to film.

Following the convictions, Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London, said there was nothing to indicate "El Money" was a "state threat". However, she said the motivation behind the attacks had been to "cause concern" and "disruption" in the community within the UK and "fear" for the Prime Minister.

She told the Press Association: "I think the intentions of the defendants was clearly to take payment, and to carry out a crime for money. There was no ideological motivation around that, and there’s no evidence to suggest that they knew who they were targeting, and that that was the Prime Minister or properties linked to the Prime Minister.

"However, clearly the intention from the online tasker was to create fear, both for the victim and the Prime Minister, and cause uncertainty, unrest, for the UK." Ms Flanagan said the two defendants had acted as criminal proxies for "El Money" and issued a warning to anyone else tempted by "easy cash". The identity of "El Money" was not discussed in the trial.