Kremlin denies Russian links to Starmer firebomb attacks

Telegraph

26-05-2025

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in a series of arson attacks on properties linked to Sir Keir Starmer earlier this month.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the UK routinely blamed Russia for incidents on its territory, calling the suggestion that Moscow had ordered the attacks 'ridiculous'.
'London is inclined to suspect Russia of involvement in all the bad things that happen in Britain,' he said. 'As a rule, these suspicions are false, unsubstantiated and often ridiculous.'
British police have not officially named Russia in connection with the crimes, which involved arson attacks on two properties and a car linked to the Prime Minister.
However, the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism unit is reportedly investigating possible Russian involvement.
According to the Financial Times, the British Government is considering how to respond if evidence emerges that Russian actors commissioned the attacks.
Three men, two Ukrainian nationals and one Romanian citizen, have been arrested in connection with the incidents.
The targets included a house owned by Sir Keir, as well as a car and a flat he had previously owned. Police suspect the trio acted in cooperation with 'others unknown'.
At present, the investigation is being treated as a criminal matter rather than a national security case, suggesting authorities are not yet viewing it as a direct act of foreign sabotage.
Sir Keir has described the attacks as ' an attack on all of us, on democracy and the values we stand for'.
The incidents began on May 8 with the firebombing of a car the Prime Minister once owned, still parked near his former home.
Three days later, a property he owned in the 1990s was targeted. The following evening, an incendiary device was thrown at the entrance of his family home in Kentish Town, north London.
Since moving into Downing Street last summer, Sir Keir has rented the Kentish Town property to his sister-in-law.
The three suspects have been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. All have been remanded in custody until a joint hearing at London's Central Criminal Court on June 6.
'Going a bit feral'
European intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is ramping up hybrid warfare tactics against Ukraine's Western allies.
Richard Moore, the head of MI6, has accused Moscow's intelligence services of 'going a bit feral' after several infrastructure attacks were linked to Russia.
Last year, arsonists set fire to a London warehouse owned by a Ukrainian business. Two British men admitted involvement. One pleaded guilty to accepting money from a foreign intelligence service.
In Poland, authorities shut down the Russian consulate in Krakow this month after finding evidence linking Moscow to a blaze at a Warsaw shopping centre in May last year.