🔗 Share this article

Six Britons working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London storage unit that was holding relief supplies destined for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian government.

The individual named Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given 12 years in jail with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years. These three individuals were each found guilty of aggravated arson and received a additional year on extended licence by the judge.

Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Incident Specifics

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

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

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

When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the probe.

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 started and was in contact with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to harm structures was also discussed.

Detectives found that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.

In a search of his home, police located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The proceedings revealed he was a member of numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”

She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.