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Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” 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 “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted made them the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten 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. The trio were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and received a additional year on supervised release by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about terrorist acts connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.

Details of the Attack

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

The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, acting on behalf of the Russian government.

The group selected the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, 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 revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also discussed.

Investigators found that Earl was also raising the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending 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 residence inspection, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The court heard he was a member of multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”

She determined the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.