Russian operatives could have been behind the arson attacks on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, according to a BBC investigation.

The shocking revelation comes just hours after two men appeared in court for attacks on the Prime Minister’s private home.

Roman Lavrynovych, a 22-year-old Ukrainian builder, targeted Sir Keir’s residence after reportedly being paid to do so by a man referred to as ‘El Money’.

Now a BBC report suggests that one of the mysterious figures involved in the coordination of the attack offered Lavrynovych money and Russian citizenship.

The figure, who went by the initials EL, has been suggested to be Evgeny Lyukshin, a 23-year-old who is the son of a senior official in Moscow.

BBC reports say that he “is a young Russian diplomat, schooled in information warfare by spies and propagandists, who is close to the highest levels of power in Moscow.”

The report says that an investigation by the broadcaster uncovered that Russian operatives made use of the Telegram messaging app.

Operatives used the app to create fake online groups – including Muslim and far-right groups, which were then used to organise acts of vandalism across the country.

The Russian embassy denied the allegations, telling the BBC: “We reject any attempt to associate Russia or its foreign ministry with unlawful activities.”

It said that Russia poses “no threat to the United Kingdom or its people and harbours no aggressive intentions towards Britain”.

The exposé comes after Ukrainian national Lavrynovych, and Ukrainian-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, were convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiring to commit arson by targeting property and a car connected to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

A third man, Petro Pochynok, 35, was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.

They had been charged after an attack on a vehicle previously owned by the Prime Minister took place last year, in which they set the car on fire.

There followed two more attacks, one on the entrance to a flat where the Prime Minister used to live, and another at the entrance to his house, which had been rented to his sister-in-law after his move to No 10.

Cdr Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the aim of the attacks had been to “intimidate and create fear for the prime minister and to attack the UK”.

She added “we’ve got no evidence to suggest that this was a state-backed threat”.

But sources told the BBC that authorities in both the UK and Ukraine have concluded in private that Russia was behind the arson attacks.