Ukrainian national charged in series of firebombings targeting UK PM Starmer

The charges come only a day after three Ukrainian nationals were arrested for allegedly plotting parcel bombing in Germany on behalf of Russia.

A police officer stands outside Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer's private home, after it was damaged by fire in a suspected arson attack in north London, Britain, May 13, 2025. (photo credit: TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS)
A police officer stands outside Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer's private home, after it was damaged by fire in a suspected arson attack in north London, Britain, May 13, 2025.
(photo credit: TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS)

Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 21, was charged in connection with a series of arson attacks targeting the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Metropolitan police and media reported on Thursday.

Two properties and a car linked to the prime minister were torched in a series of arson attacks in London between May 8 and May 12. Lavrynovych is expected to appear before Westminster magistrates’ court on Friday on three counts of arson with intent to endanger life.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, a Toyota Rav 4 was set alight. The car had once belonged to Starmer but was later sold to a neighbor, the Telegraph reported.

Only two days after the car fire, an apartment in Islington, once inhabited by Starmer in the 1990s, was set alight. 

A police officer stands on duty whilst people enter Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer's private home, after it was damaged by fire in a suspected arson attack in north London, Britain, May 13, 2025. (credit: TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS)
A police officer stands on duty whilst people enter Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer's private home, after it was damaged by fire in a suspected arson attack in north London, Britain, May 13, 2025. (credit: TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS)

The PM’s family home, which is currently being rented out by his sister-in-law, was then torched on Monday. The property’s front door and entrance were damaged, though nobody was harmed in the fire.

The motive behind the arsons

Starmer called the incident an "attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values that we stand for."

The charges against Lavrynovych come only a day after three Ukrainian nationals were arrested on suspicion of plotting a series of parcel bomb attacks in Germany on behalf of Russia.

Police are still working to uncover a motive behind the arsons.