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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 storage unit that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian government.

Dylan Earl received a seventeen-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 sentenced to 12 years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of serious fire-setting and given a additional year on extended licence by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism 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 remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, representing the Russian Federation.

The group targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated 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 indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.

Investigators found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

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

In a search of his home, law enforcement found a Russian flag, 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 multiple channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”

She determined the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the UK government as a terrorist group.