Police in Britain have charged a third man with arson offences over a series of fires that targeted properties in London linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Petro Pochynok, 34, has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. The Ukrainian national appeared at London's Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning, speaking only to confirm his name and London address.
Two other men have also been charged with setting fire to Starmer’s personal home, along with a property where he once lived and a car he had sold. They are Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 21, and Ukraine-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26.
Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared in court previously. All three suspcts have been ordered detained until a joint hearing at London's Central Criminal Court on 6 June.
The charges and latest arrest relate to three incidents — a fire at Starmer's private home in Kentish Town, north London, a vehicle fire on the same street, and a blaze at a property where he had previously lived in northwest London.
No injuries were reported from the fires, which occurred on three nights between 8 May and 12 May.
Starmer and his family had moved into the prime minister’s official 10 Downing Street residence in central London after he was elected in July. He recently called the incidents "an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for".
Counterterrorism detectives led the investigation because it involves the prime minister. The charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, which is responsible for prosecuting offences relating to state threats.
Although the motives behind the fires have not been made public, security officials in the West have warned that Russian intelligence might be using an array of disruptive tactics, among them disinformation, sabotage and arson against Ukraine's Western allies.
In November 2024, Richard Moore, the head of Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, said Moscow was conducting a "staggeringly reckless" sabotage campaign.
Last month, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russia of pursuing increasingly hostile policies against the UK and its interests — which he said included "recruiting spies to undertake acts of arson and sabotage on UK soil".
