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Six Britons working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based storage unit that was holding humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

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 prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an additional 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, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each convicted of aggravated arson and received a further year on extended licence by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism connected 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 £1m in damage in March last 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 humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.

Proof and Additional Schemes

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

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

Detectives discovered that the defendant Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, police found a flag of Russia, 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 member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors far from the Russian capital.”

She found the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the perpetrators were aware of it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist group.