A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years. These three individuals were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a further year on supervised release by the court.
Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about terrorist acts relating to another plot in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in £1m in damage in March last year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.
The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in communication with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to harm structures was also deliberated.
Investigators found that the defendant Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.
The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.
In a search of his home, police located a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.
Driving Factors and Court Comments
The proceedings revealed he was a member of multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”
She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
