🔗 Share this article

Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for igniting a London-based warehouse that was holding relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

Sentencing the men, the judge at the central criminal court stated that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.

Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with one year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes made them the first individuals to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years in prison. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and given a further year on supervised release by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was jailed for nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism connected to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Incident Specifics

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

The proceedings revealed that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while coordinating the incident for the Wagner mercenary organization, representing the Russian government.

The individuals involved selected the warehouse because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.

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 group on Telegram, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also deliberated.

Detectives found that the defendant Earl was also raising the potential abduction of Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had discussed an additional planned incident in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, law enforcement found a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a market value of about £34,000.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

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

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