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A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the central criminal court stated that they had planned 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, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in prison with one year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes made them the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was given seven years in prison. The trio were each convicted of aggravated arson and given a additional year on supervised release by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.

Incident Specifics

The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March last year.

The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.

The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by 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 arrested, law enforcement examination of his cellphone uncovered he had videos of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the messages indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also deliberated.

Investigators found that the defendant Earl was also raising the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.

In a residence inspection, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

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

“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

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