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A 21-year-old Ukrainian man, Illia Bilyk, pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates' Court to vandalizing five mosques and a school in east London with graffiti that was racially and religiously motivated. The incidents occurred between January 23 and January 25, 2025. According to the BBC investigation, Bilyk was recruited via Telegram by Russian operatives who offered him money for the vandalism as part of a broader campaign aimed at provoking anti-Muslim sentiment in Britain. This case is linked to previous arson attacks against former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, also orchestrated by Russian agents through similar methods involving social media and direct recruitment of individuals.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Illia Bilyk, a 21-year-old Ukrainian man, pleaded guilty in Thames Magistrates' Court to spraying abusive graffiti on mosques in east London. The incidents occurred on January 23, 2025, at the Stratford Islamic Association, Al-Birr Mosque, and Leyton Jamia Masjid; two days later, he targeted Noor Ul Islam Primary School and the Islamic Shariah Council.
Bilyk told police that a Russian speaker recruited him via Telegram to spray the graffiti, providing instructions on targets and paying afterward. This case is linked to Russia's alleged involvement in similar attacks, including arson against Sir Keir Starmer's property and car, which resulted in jail time for two other Ukrainians, Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc, in June 2025.
Chief Superintendent Rhona Hunt from the Met Police emphasized that anti-Muslim hate crime has no place in London, highlighting its distressing impact on Muslim communities. Bilyk is scheduled to be sentenced on October 19 at Stratford Magistrates' Court.
Written for “Ukrainian Vandalism Linked to Russia” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
-
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.
left links Russian state actions to political opposition in the UK
-
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.
left attributes widespread vandalism to Russian state actions
-
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.
left frames Russian involvement as an orchestrated campaign against religious institutions
-
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.
left details Russian coordination and recruitment efforts
Leaning score -0.65 for article 16660 (high confidence, 4 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-17
Claims extracted
20
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 20 hedged
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject
Correction & hedging signals
95.5
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
- Published
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.
asserted
man → publish → minister
Illia Bilyk, 21, entered guilty pleas at Thames Magistrates' Court to five counts of racially and religiously aggravated criminal damage.
asserted
Bilyk → enter → damage
Bilyk sprayed graffiti on the Stratford Islamic Association, Al-Birr Mosque and Leyton Jamia Masjid on 23 January 2025.
asserted
Bilyk → spray → January
Two days later he targeted Noor Ul Islam Primary School and the Islamic Shariah Council.
asserted
he → target → School
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.
asserted
he → learn → app
Bilyk said the Russian speaker told him where to target and paid him afterwards.
asserted
speaker → say → him
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.
asserted
Ukrainians → jail → 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.
asserted
Biluyk → reveal → which
Lavrynovych, who personally started the fires targeting Sir Keir's property, also admitted spraying Islamophobic graffiti on an Islamic building in south London.
asserted
who → start → 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.
asserted
He → recruit → graffiti
EL was a Russian operative who organised a widespread sabotage and provocation campaign remotely through social media and Telegram.
asserted
who → organise → media
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.
asserted
which → involve → 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.
asserted
images → spray → 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.
asserted
EL → post → area
The BBC investigation named a Russian diplomat, Evgeny Lyukshin, who was part of the Direct Action UK chat group.
asserted
who → name → group
Lyukshin was trained in "information warfare" by senior Russian spies and his details matched those of EL.
asserted
details → train → EL
He did not respond to the BBC.
asserted
He → respond → BBC
Bilyk will be sentenced on 19 October at Stratford Magistrates' Court.
asserted
Bilyk → sentence → 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.
asserted
crime → say → London
We are committed to tackling hate crime while supporting and reassuring our communities."
asserted
We → commit → communities
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