MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin on Monday rejected claims of Russian involvement in arson attacks on houses and a car linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and said that London repeatedly saw the hand of Moscow behind anything bad that happened in Britain.
Earlier this month, police were called to fires at a house in north London owned by Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a car that also used to belong to him.
Three men – two of them Ukrainians and one Romanian national – have been charged in connection with the fires. None of the suspects have been charged under terrorism laws or the new National Security Act which aims to target hostile state activity.
The Financial Times and the Mail on Sunday reported that British security officials were investigating if Russia was involved in the arson attacks.
Asked about the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea that Russia was behind the arson attacks.
“You know, London is inclined to suspect Russia of involvement in all the bad things that happen in Britain,” Peskov said. “As a rule, all these suspicions are false, unsubstantiated and often ridiculous.”
The British police, which has not mentioned Russia in any of their statements related to the attacks, declined to comment on recent reports. The British government did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov in Moscow and Muvija M in London; Editing by Alexander Marrow/Guy Faulconbridge)
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