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Six Britons acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for igniting a located in London storage unit that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the central criminal court stated that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian state.

Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with one year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, 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 serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the judge.

Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.

Details of the Attack

The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in £1m in damage in March of the previous year.

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

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

When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 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 taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an user profile with the handles ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to harm structures was also discussed.

Detectives found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.

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

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

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The proceedings revealed he was a member of multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”

She found the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.