EVIAN, France: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that “justice has been done” after two men were convicted of arson attacks on his property, ordered online by a Russian-speaking handler.
The British media have linked the attacks to Russia, with the BBC reporting it had uncovered evidence suggesting that the mastermind was a young Russian, the son of a senior official.
A jury on Monday found Roman Lavrynovych, a 22-year-old Ukrainian builder living in London, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian, guilty of conspiring to damage property by fire.
The men carried out overnight attacks in May 2025 targeting London houses linked to Starmer — including his former residence where his sister-in-law and her family were living — and a car he formerly owned.
While attending the G7 summit in Evian, France, the prime minister said that “justice has been done, so I’m pleased in that respect, particularly for my family who were affected by it.”
The men are due to be sentenced Friday.
Starmer added the attack had “to be seen in its broader context,” pointing to Ukraine “doing better” in the war and Western sanctions having a “real impact on Russia.”
The prime minister announced fresh sanctions targeting Russian entities on Tuesday.
- NoName hackers -
The court heard the attacks were organized via messages on Telegram, following orders from an unidentified Russian-speaking mastermind known as El Money who promised payment.
The Financial Times reported the person behind this account posted on Telegram groups for Russian and Ukrainian speakers seeking work in London.
It said this person was located in Russia and linked to a prominent hacker group called NoName.
The BBC said it found evidence, using open-source tools, that EL stood for Evgeny Lyukshin, the 23-year-old son of a senior Russian diplomat, although it could not be sure.
Lyukshin did not respond to the BBC.
The broadcaster found the EL account ordered people in Britain to vandalize a mosque and also to spray-paint Arabic graffiti.
EL also tasked Lavrynovych with putting up posters for a fake far-right group called Direct Action UK, which the BBC and the FT reported was created online by Russians after racist-motivated riots in the summer of 2024.
The BBC also reported Russia amplified disinformation spread widely online about the case by Britain’s far-right, which falsely claimed the attackers were sex workers, hinting at a scandal involving Starmer.
Prosecutors said the perpetrators’ motive appeared to be financial.
Helen Flanagan, head of counter-terrorism policing for London, said after the verdict that the mastermind wanted to “create fear,” but the police did not have evidence of a “state threat.”
