Ukrainian guilty of vandalism at mosques linked to Russian network behind Starmer arson attack

ByDaniel De SimoneInvestigations correspondent and Tom BealAt Thames Magistrates' Court

A Ukrainian man has pleaded guilty to spraying abusive graffiti on mosques in east London, in a case linked to the Russian state network behind arson attacks against the former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Illia Bilyk, 21, entered guilty pleas at Thames Magistrates' Court to five counts of racially and religiously aggravated criminal damage.

Bilyk sprayed graffiti on the Stratford Islamic Association, Al-Birr Mosque and Leyton Jamia Masjid on 23 January 2025. Two days later he targeted Noor Ul Islam Primary School and the Islamic Shariah Council.

The BBC has learned that Bilyk told police he was recruited into spraying the graffiti by a Russian speaker after being approached on the messaging app Telegram.

Bilyk said the Russian speaker told him where to target and paid him afterwards.

In June this year two Ukrainians - Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc - were jailed for conspiring to carry out arson attacks targeting a property and a car connected to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

An investigation by the BBC and Hope not Hate revealed that Russia was behind the arson attacks and had also generated Islamophobic vandalism throughout London, including on the east London venues which Biluyk has now admitted vandalising.

Lavrynovych, who personally started the fires targeting Sir Keir's property, also admitted spraying Islamophobic graffiti on an Islamic building in south London.

He was recruited on Telegram and offered money by an anonymous handler, known by the initials EL, for the graffiti and the arson attacks.

EL was a Russian operative who organised a widespread sabotage and provocation campaign remotely through social media and Telegram.

EL was centrally involved in running a fake far-right group called Direct Action UK, which was created by Russian operatives to provoke acts of vandalism on British streets, including the graffiti attacks on mosques.

After Bilyk sprayed his abusive graffiti in east London in January 2025, images of the attacks were shared in a Direct Action Telegram group.

Hours after two of his attacks, EL posted in a jobs group for Ukrainian people offering money for pictures of buildings in the area.

The BBC investigation named a Russian diplomat, Evgeny Lyukshin, who was part of the Direct Action UK chat group. Lyukshin was trained in "information warfare" by senior Russian spies and his details matched those of EL. He did not respond to the BBC.

Bilyk will be sentenced on 19 October at Stratford Magistrates' Court.

Chief Superintendent Rhona Hunt, from the Met Police, said: "We recognise that these incidents caused significant distress within Muslim communities across east London last year and that they continue to cause concern.

"Anti-Muslim hate crime and Islamophobia have absolutely no place in London. We are committed to tackling hate crime while supporting and reassuring our communities."