British spies are investigating whether Russia was behind a series of arson attacks on Keir Starmer’s property, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Police say that two Ukrainians and a Romanian who have been charged over the incidents, involving two houses and a car linked to the Prime Minister, had conspired with ‘others unknown’.
Now senior official sources have disclosed that MI5 is examining potential links between the three men and Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Although no one was injured in the fires, any suggestion that the attacks on a British Prime Minister had been ordered by the Kremlin would represent an extraordinary escalation in tensions between the two countries.
The three men, Petro Pochynok, 34, Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, and Roman Lavrynovych, 21, have been charged with conspiring to damage a house currently rented out by Sir Keir in Kentish Town, north London, another in nearby Islington where he previously lived, and a car he sold to a neighbour last year.
Builder Lavrynovych, an aspiring model who lives in Sydenham in south-east London, is originally from Ukraine and was the first to be held in connection with the alleged plot, having been arrested in the early hours of May 13.
Carpiuc, from Romford, Essex, was arrested by counter-terrorism officers at Luton Airport last Saturday as he prepared to catch a Wizz Air flight to Romania. He is a Romanian national who was born in Ukraine, and also describes himself as an aspiring model.
British spies are investigating whether Russia was behind a series of arson attacks on Keir Starmer ’s property, involving two houses and a car linked to the Prime Minister, The Mail on Sunday can reveal
Senior official sources have disclosed that MI5 is examining potential links between the three men and Vladimir Putin’s (pictured) regime
Although no one was injured in the fires, any suggestion that the attacks on a British Prime Minister had been ordered by the Kremlin would represent an extraordinary escalation in tensions between the two countries
When he appeared before Westminster magistrates last week, Carpiuc needed the help of a Russian-speaking translator.
Pochynok, who lives in Holloway, north London, calls himself a fashion entrepreneur on social media and was arrested on Monday in Chelsea, west London. All three deny the charges and have been remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on June 6.
Sarah Przybyiska, for the prosecution, told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that ‘at this stage the alleged offending is unexplained’.
But multiple Whitehall sources have told the MoS that police and MI5 are probing the possibility the Kremlin may have ordered the attacks in response to Britain’s support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Intelligence experts say Russia recruits foreigners to launch attacks as Kremlin spies have been expelled from Europe.
Although Scotland Yard have refused to comment on the case, sources at the Met have said they are ‘keeping an open mind’ about the three attacks.
Security sources cautioned that investigators have not ‘connected the dots’ that conclusively link these attacks back to the Kremlin. The sources added that officials are also probing whether other elements in Russia, from militia organisations to criminal gangs, may have recruited the trio.
Three men have been charged with conspiring to damage a house currently rented out by Sir Keir in Kentish Town, north London, another in nearby Islington where he previously lived and a car he sold to a neighbour last year
Petro Pochynok, 34, who lives in Holloway, north London, has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life
Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, of Romford, Essex, has been charged with conspiring with ‘others unknown’ over the arsons. He is a Romanian national who was born in Ukraine, and describes himself as an aspiring model
The Met’s Counter-Terrorism Command has led the investigation from the outset because of the links to the Prime Minister, who has described the fires as ‘an attack on all of us, on democracy, and the values that we stand for’.
The Kremlin has ramped up attacks in Britain and across Europe in the past 18 months as Putin’s war in Ukraine rages on.
Earlier this month, six Bulgarians were found guilty of spying for Russia in trying to obtain information on UK-based journalists, and last year MI6 chief Richard Moore warned that Russia’s intelligence services have ‘gone a bit feral’ across Europe.
In March, prosecutors in Lithuania accused Russia’s intelligence service, the GRU, of recruiting two Ukrainians to carry out an arson attack on an Ikea store.
Russians have also been accused of being behind an arson attack on a Warsaw shopping centre last year and placing coffins under the Eiffel Tower inscribed with ‘French soldiers in the Ukraine’.
Last year the Biden administration received intelligence that Russia was planning to send exploding parcels to the US, which could have led to planes being downed mid-Atlantic.
Police say a Toyota Rav4 hybrid the PM had sold to a neighbour was set alight in the early hours of May 8 on a street in Kentish Town. And early on May 11 a small fire started on the front door of a property in Islington where Sir Keir lived in the 1990s.
Builder Roman Lavrynovych, 21, an aspiring model who lives in Sydenham in south-east London, is originally from Ukraine and was the first to be held in connection with the alleged plot, having been arrested in the early hours of May 13
The Met’s Counter-Terrorism Command has led the investigation from the outset because of the links to the Prime Minister, who has described the fires as ‘an attack on all of us, on democracy, and the values that we stand for’
Then, on May 12, there was a fire at a home in Kentish Town on the same street as the Toyota, damaging its front entrance. The £2 million house is still owned by Sir Keir, who has rented it to his sister-in-law since moving into Downing Street last year.
Westminster magistrates heard that Carpiuc and Pochynok were in the area at the time the vehicle was set ablaze, and Lavrynovych was nearby when the Kentish Town house was set on fire.
Western spies say they have recently uncovered Russian plots to bomb aeroplanes, torch public buildings and assassinate high-profile figures who back Ukraine.
A Whitehall source said: ‘Everyone is genuinely keeping an open mind about this.’
