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A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian government.

Dylan Earl received a 17-year jail term with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve 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 National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. These three individuals were each convicted of aggravated arson and given a further year on extended licence by the judge.

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 failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.

Details of the Attack

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 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 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 humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

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

Proof and Additional Schemes

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

Some of the communications showed that reconnaissance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.

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

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech nation.

In a search of his home, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The court heard he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to acquire harmful worldwide sway using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.