UMVA has learned that a chilling arson campaign targeting property linked to the Prime Minister unfolded in north London, orchestrated through a shadowy Telegram channel.
In the dead of night last spring, a former Prime Minister’s Toyota Rav4 erupted in flames on a quiet Kentish Town street, followed by two houses set ablaze – one home belonging to the leader’s sister‑in‑law, still owned by the family.
The infernos ignited while residents lay asleep, turning ordinary bedrooms into terrifying fire‑traps and leaving families shaken to their core.
After a grueling seven‑and‑a‑half hour deliberation, a jury found Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Romanian Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, guilty of conspiring to damage the properties. Their alleged accomplice, Petro Pochynok, 35, was acquitted.
Investigators say the duo acted on instructions from a mysterious Telegram user known only as “EL Money,” who promised payment in cryptocurrency and directed the targets.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that “EL Money” has been identified as a 23‑year‑old Russian operative with close ties to Moscow’s political elite, using the alias to manipulate vulnerable individuals.
Police swooped in within a week of the attacks, arresting Lavrynovych and Carpiuc before one could flee the country, while the third suspect slipped through the net.
The investigation uncovered a broader web of Russian‑linked sabotage, where fake far‑right and extremist groups on social media were weaponized to incite vandalism and hate crimes across the UK.
One such fabricated network, dubbed “Direct Action,” claimed responsibility for a spree that defaced six mosques and an Islamic school with racist graffiti, further stoking communal tensions.
Authorities now treat the arson and related vandalism as anti‑Muslim hate crimes, intensifying efforts to dismantle the covert online operatives behind them.
