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Six Britons working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based warehouse that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

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

The individual named Dylan Earl received a seventeen-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was given 12 years in jail with an additional 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, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was given seven years. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a additional year on supervised release by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.

Incident Specifics

The arson attack on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London put 60 firefighters at risk and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.

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

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

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated 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 indicated that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.

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 residence inspection, police found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The court heard he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven 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 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 organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.