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Russia was behind arson attacks targeting PM, BBC reveals
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Russia was behind arson attacks targeting PM, BBC reveals

BBC News · Jun 15, 2026, 1:10 PM · Also reported by 3 other sources

Key takeaways

  • His anonymous handler, known by the initials EL, gave a clue in a message: "Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain.
  • It was too late: Lavrynovych was arrested within hours.
  • The 22-year-old Ukrainian builder had been weaponised to target the UK's head of government.

Why this matters: a developing story that could shape the day's news cycle.

Daniel De Simone,Tom Bealand Olga Malchevska,BBC News Investigations and BBC Panorama BBCFires targeting properties linked to Sir Keir Starmer were part of a Russian campaign, the BBC has found Even after Roman Lavrynovych set fire to Sir Keir Starmer's house, he seemed to know as much about the prime minister as a bullet knows about its target.

His anonymous handler, known by the initials EL, gave a clue in a message: "Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I'll send you money, you need to leave the city."

It was too late: Lavrynovych was arrested within hours.

Article preview — originally published by BBC News. Full story at the source.
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