August M
The internet is filled with anonymous accounts trying to stir up political trouble. Usually, the damage stays firmly trapped behind a screen.
But sometimes, digital commands cross a dangerous line and ignite real fires on quiet city streets, the Ukrainian state-owned media outlet United24Media reports.
Following the digital trail
An investigation by the Financial Times has uncovered a foreign sabotage ring responsible for dangerous fires in the United Kingdom. The blazes specifically hit locations tied to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
A London court found a young construction worker guilty of carrying out the physical damage. Prosecutors showed that the 22-year-old received his orders straight from a handler based in Russia.
That mystery figure used the Telegram app under the name “El Money.” According to the Financial Times, experts linked this handler to a notorious pro-Kremlin hacker collective.
A fake local movement
The setup relies on finding local recruits to create chaos across Europe. In Britain, the operators wanted to exploit social tensions by spreading extreme political beliefs and hateful messaging.
To trick people into joining, they launched an online group that looked like a grassroots British movement. But the Financial Times found that Russian administrators were actually pulling the strings.
The handler spent nearly a year slowly preparing the young worker for bigger offenses. He started out small. His early tasks involved handing out right-wing posters and vandalising religious buildings around London.
Escalating the danger
By May 2025, the campaign took a terrifying turn. The handler commanded the worker to strike three separate locations connected to the British leader.
The first blaze destroyed a vehicle Starmer once owned. Days later, another fire broke out near a flat where the Prime Minister lived decades ago.
The final attack hit Starmer’s family home. His relatives were asleep inside at the time. With the job done, the handler ordered the worker to flee.
A secret code word
“Look you attacked the home of a very high ranking individual in Britain. I will send you money, you need to leave the city,” the handler told him on Telegram, according to the Financial Times.
The handler added a backup plan. “If police detain you, send a secret message ‘Geran’ (Geranium), and I will send a lawyer over to you.”
That code word matches a suicide drone used by the Russian military. But the promised getaway funds never arrived.
British police arrested the worker at his home just hours after that final text exchange.
Sources: Financial Times, United24 Media
