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Six Britons working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.

Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes made them the first individuals to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years. The trio 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 drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism connected to another plot in Mayfair.

Details of the Attack

The deliberate fire 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 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 mercenary organization, representing the Russian Federation.

The group targeted the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the investigation.

Proof and Additional Schemes

When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his cellphone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the communications indicated that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.

Investigators found that the defendant Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping 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 found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The court heard he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

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