Russia denies involvement in arson at properties linked to UK Prime Minister Starmer

LONDON — A top Kremlin official on Monday scoffed at a report that Russia could be involved in recent arson attacks on the private home of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a building where he once lived and a car that he had owned.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a Financial Times report that said U.K. security officials were looking into whether Russia was involved in the attacks.

The Associated Press has not been able to independently confirm the FT report that relied on unnamed senior U.K. government figures. But Peskov, who the London-based paper said did not respond to a request when it published the story Friday, was asked about the report at his regular press briefing Monday.

''London tends to suspect Russia of anything bad that happens in the U.K.," Peskov said. ''As a rule, all these suspicions are groundless, unsubstantiated and often laughable.''

No one was injured in the fires that occurred on three nights between May 8 and May 12 in north London, authorities said.

Three men with ties to Ukraine face arson charges and are being held without bail before a hearing June 6 in London's Central Criminal Court.

A prosecutor said there was no explanation for the crimes and no official has publicly said Moscow is behind the fires.

But the arsons fit a pattern of disruption that Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of carrying out dozens of times to undermine support for Ukraine since Moscow's full-scale invasion three years ago and to sow division in Europe.

The Associated Press in March documented nearly 60 incidents in which European governments, prosecutors, intelligence services or other Western officials blamed Russia, groups linked to Russia or its ally Belarus for cyberattacks, spreading propaganda, plotting killings or committing acts of vandalism, arson, sabotage or espionage since the 2022 invasion.

Richard Moore, the head of Britain's foreign intelligence service, accused Russia last year of a ''staggeringly reckless'' sabotage campaign against Ukraine's Western allies.

Two weeks ago, six Bulgarians were sentenced in a London court to lengthy prison terms for carrying out a sophisticated spying operation for Russia.

Starmer's office had no comment Monday about the FT report or Peskov's comments. It referred the AP to the Metropolitan Police, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Foreign Office also did not immediately respond.

Counterterrorism detectives investigated the Starmer-related fires, they said, because the incidents involved the prime minister. The charges were authorized by the Crown Prosecution Service's Counter Terrorism Division, which is responsible for prosecuting offenses relating to state threats, among other crimes.

Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. His compatriot, Petro Pochynok, 34, and Ukraine-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, were charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.

Starmer and his family had moved out of his home after he was elected in July, and they live at the prime minister's official Downing Street residence.

A Toyota RAV4 that Starmer had sold to a neighbor was set ablaze May 8, just down the street from the house where he lived before he took office. The door of an apartment building where he once lived was set on fire on May 11, and on May 12 the doorway of his home was charred after being set ablaze.

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Joanna Kozlowska contributed to this report.