Prosecutors found the arson attacks were carried out in 2025 after a suspect was recruited online by Russian-speaking Telegram user “El Money” who promised him payment.<\/p>\n
A BBC Panorama investigation uncovered evidence suggesting he is a 23-year-old Russian diplomat Evgeny Lyukshin, the son of a senior official who has been schooled in information warfare by spies and propagandists.<\/p>\n
The BBC found that “El Money” offered Russian citizenship in return for other attacks, and glorified Putin in messages. Accounts based in Russian also spread spread disinformation on the motive for the attacks.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Tuesday, Sir Richard Moore, the former head of MI6, warned the Russian President Vladimir Putin is “trying to intimidate” the UK with sabotage, arson and cyber attacks on British streets.<\/p>\n
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Sir Richard said proxy attacks showed Britain needed to have a “discussion” about “the balance of resourcing for security and defence”.<\/p>\n
The government and intelligence services have not yet said the Kremlin was behind the incident, but Sir Richard commended the BBC’s reporting and said “we shouldn’t be surprised at all” if Russian involvement was confirmed.<\/p>\n
Sir Richard claimed Putin was under pressure over the war in Ukraine which meant he was “quite keen to expand the battlefield a bit” by using sabotage, cyber attacks and arson in the hope it would be “disruptive, distracting and intimidating to those of us who are supporting Ukraine”.<\/p>\n