Ukrainian man denies plot to set fire to car linked to Sir Keir Starmer

A Ukrainian man accused of conspiring to set fire to a car linked to Sir Keir Starmer has told the Old Bailey he was only at the crime scene after being asked to help with some "luggage".

Pochynok told jurors that Sir Keir was a "friend" of Ukraine and he had not been part of a plan to target him. He is accused of being present on 8 May 2025 when a Toyota previously owned by Sir Keir was set alight.

Giving evidence through a translator, Pochynok said he became involved after his long-term friend Carpiuc phoned to ask if he could help an associate - Lavrynovych - with some "heavy suitcases".

Pochynok said he had only met Lavrynovych once before and they had never spoken, but he agreed to help as a favour to Carpiuc.

He described setting his alarm for the early hours of the morning on 8 May and walking to a street in Kentish Town, north London, where he met Lavrynovych.

"When I met him I realised he did not have any suitcases, he only had a rucksack," Pochynok said.

He said Lavrynovych had seemed "very irritated" and "kept talking about money", particularly an employer who had not paid him for two months.

He said Lavrynovych then described an intention to set fire to the employer's car, but that he told him "not to do that".

Pochynok said Lavrynovych handed him a phone with the camera app open, before setting the car alight. He captured a brief video of Lavrynovych moving away from the car as it started to burn, before throwing the phone on the floor and running away because he "didn't want to participate in a crime".

Asked by his barrister Dominic D'Souza if he had at at any stage agreed to participate in the plan, Pochynock said: "I did not agree to do that".

He told the court he worked in construction and at the department store Harrods, and that he had never agreed to be paid for any arsons.

He described going home after the incident and not wanting to speak to Lavrynovych again. They were both arrested within days.

Lavrynovych had previously told the court that he set fire to the Toyota because he had been recruited by a Russian-speaking online account he called "El Money", that had offered him money in exchange for setting light to the car and properties.

On 11 May 2025 - three days after the car fire - a fire was discovered at flats in nearby Islington where Sir Keir previously lived.

On 12 May, another fire was discovered at the front entrance to Sir Keir's Kentish Town home - in the same street where the car was set on fire - which was being rented to his sister-in-law.

Jurors have previously heard that after the final fire, "El Money" messaged Lavrynovych to say: "Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I'll send you money, you need to leave the city."

Asked whether he would ever help Russia or someone linked to Russia who was "causing problems" in the UK, Pochynok said he would not, adding: "Putin is a terrorist."

Lavynovych told police that he did not know who Sir Keir was, but, when Pochynock was asked, he said: "I know he is prime minister. He is Ukrainian friend, and all UK people are Ukrainian friends."