🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London warehouse that was storing relief supplies destined for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.

The individual named 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 given 12 years in jail with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given 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 given a further year on extended licence by the court.

Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty 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 warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in £1m in damage in March of the previous year.

The proceedings revealed that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, representing the Russian Federation.

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

When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an arson attack ten days afterward in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to harm structures was also discussed.

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

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about 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 hydrochloride with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The proceedings revealed he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”

She determined the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner organization is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist group.