BBC: A Russian sabotage campaign would have been behind the arson attacks targeting the British Prime Minister

The BBC investigation suggests that the attempted arson directed against properties associated with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was not an isolated act, but part of a broader operation of sabotage and disinformation coordinated from Russia. According to the investigation, Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, convicted for his involvement in attacks, was reportedly recruited via Telegram by a coordinator known as "EL", who offered him money, promised him Russian citizenship, and urged him to commit increasingly serious actions. The BBC states that the evidence points to Evgeny Lyukshin, a young Russian diplomat trained in information warfare and close to influential circles in Moscow, although his identity has not been officially confirmed.

The investigation also shows that the same network created fake far-right groups and fictitious Islamic organizations to provoke social tensions, organize acts of vandalism, and amplify hatred in the UK. Attacks on mosques, online propaganda, and the spread of false information about the Starmer case are presented as part of a broader pattern of hybrid warfare attributed to Russia. Although British authorities have not officially stated that the attacks were state-sponsored by Russia, sources cited by the BBC claim that both British and Ukrainian officials have privately reached this conclusion.