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A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based warehouse that was holding humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the central criminal court remarked 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 prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in prison with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, 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 homeless, was given seven years. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on supervised release by the court.

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 supervised release after being found guilty of withholding details regarding terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Details of the Attack

The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March of the previous year.

The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner mercenary organization, representing the Russian Federation.

The group selected the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the communications indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine shop 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.

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

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, police located a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The court heard he was a participant in numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”

She found the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.