Story perspectives

Starmer, Ofcom target Russia-linked Telegram arson paid crypto

6/20/2026

Summary

Story summary

Ofcom has questioned Telegram’s safeguards and contacted the service after authorities recovered over 320 messages linking a handler to the arson suspects.
Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc were convicted after Telegram handler “El Money” directed them, offering £3,000 in crypto and demanding they film and post the fires.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the arson was meant to exploit division, destabilise democracy and was linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

History

Historical Context

After the Internet Research Agency flooded Facebook and Twitter with numerous fake pages during the 2016 U.S. election—Twitter later identified 36,000 Russian bots and Facebook reported 126 million users saw the content—Russia has continued to exploit encrypted services. In 2024 Ofcom opened a probe of Telegram after arson-plot messages, highlighting regulators’ push to curb platform-enabled foreign interference.

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Story summary

Ofcom has questioned Telegram’s safeguards and contacted the service after authorities recovered over 320 messages linking a handler to the arson suspects.
Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc were convicted after Telegram handler “El Money” directed them, offering £3,000 in crypto and demanding they film and post the fires.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the arson was meant to exploit division, destabilise democracy and was linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

1 / 2