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A group of six individuals from Britain acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.

Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term 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 prison with an additional year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. These three individuals were each found guilty of aggravated arson and given a additional year on supervised release by the court.

Ashton Evans drug dealer hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years imprisonment plus a further year on supervised release after being found guilty of withholding details regarding acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

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 court heard that Earl, 21 and Reeves, 24 remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, representing the Russian Federation.

The individuals involved selected the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command took over the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, law enforcement examination of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner organization on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the communications showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair owned by the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.

Investigators found that Earl was also raising the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a residence inspection, police found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

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

“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.