A London court set an April trial date for two Ukrainian men charged with orchestrating a series of arson attacks that targeted property linked to Prime Minister Kier Starmer.
Neither of the two men -- Roman Lavrynovych and Petro Pochynok-- nor a Romanian man, Stanislav Carpiuc, who is also charged in the case -- entered pleas at the June 6 hearing, held at London’s Old Bailey court, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesman told RFE/RL.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb ordered the three held in custody until their next hearing in October, with a trial date scheduled for April 2026.
British counterterrorism police have been investigating how and why the three men, plus an unnamed fourth, allegedly set fire to a car and two houses linked to the British prime minister. No one was injured in any of the blazes, which took place in May.
The fourth man was arrested at London's Stansted Airport in connection with the arson earlier this week and released on bail.
Starmer has called the incidents "an attack on all of us, on our democracy, and the values we stand for."
The Financial Times, citing unnamed government officials, said police were investigating whether Russian intelligence agencies played a role in recruiting the men, perhaps unwittingly.
Ukrainian police have said they were cooperating with British and other European law enforcement entities, trying to determine if there was a connection to "foreign intelligence services or other terrorist groups."
On June 2, the same day the fourth unidentified man was arrested, Ukraine's military intelligence agency issued an unusual public warning, saying that Russian intelligence agencies had “intensified” efforts to recruit Ukrainians for various tasks.
Viktor Yagun, a former deputy director with Ukraine's main security agency, the SBU, told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service that Telegram channels and chats -- particularly those geared for job seekers -- are one tool Russian intelligence agencies use to identify and hire people, some unsuspecting.
They "are a modern method of attracting people who are in a difficult situation and are trying to somehow find themselves in life," Yagun said "In addition, the same Ukrainians are not looking for work on Polish or British sites but often on Russian-language ones."
