Two men were convicted on 15 June 2026 at London's Old Bailey of conspiracy to commit arson in connection with attacks on properties in north London linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Roman Lavrynovych, 22, a Ukrainian national, was found guilty of two counts of committing arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, a Ukrainian-born Romanian national, was also convicted. Both were arrested by detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing London, according to the Metropolitan Police.

A third man, Petro Pochynok, 34, was involved in the case and denies the charges against him, the BBC reported in May 2026.

The involvement of Counter Terrorism Policing London from the outset placed this investigation on a distinct legal and operational footing from standard criminal arson. CT Policing typically assumes primacy when an attack is assessed as potentially intended to intimidate the state, coerce government, or advance a foreign or ideological agenda — even when formal terrorism charges are not ultimately laid. Convictions under recklessness-as-to-life provisions carry serious sentencing exposure; the specific framing of Lavrynovych's charges indicates prosecutors were satisfied the fires created genuine risk to persons, not merely property.

The geographic and political sensitivity here is considerable. Properties associated with a sitting prime minister are, by definition, within the protection perimeter of the state's security apparatus. An arson targeting such locations — regardless of the perpetrators' ultimate motive — triggers protocols that span the Metropolitan Police, MI5, and the Cabinet Office's protective security machinery. That CT Policing led the arrests rather than standard CID reflects that assessment.

The nationalities of the convicted men will attract scrutiny in the current European security environment. Ukraine is a partner nation receiving substantial British military and financial support; any suggestion of state-linked involvement would carry significant diplomatic weight. However, the verified facts establish only the convictions — attribution of motive or direction remains, at this stage, a matter for sentencing proceedings and any subsequent public statements from prosecutors or the security services. Sentencing has not yet been reported.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the convictions. Full sentencing detail and any prosecutorial account of motive are expected to follow.