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A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for igniting a located in London storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the judge at the central criminal court stated that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian state.

Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on extended licence by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Details of the Attack

The arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton, east London endangered sixty fire service personnel and caused one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.

The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and Reeves, 24 did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.

The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the messages indicated that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.

Investigators found that the defendant Earl was also raising the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, police located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The proceedings revealed he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”

She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.