A group of six individuals from Britain acting for Russia’s Wagner group have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a located in London storage unit that was storing humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
Sentencing the men, the judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.
Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted resulted in them being the initial persons to be convicted under the 2023 National Security Act.
Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was sentenced to a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 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 additional year on extended licence by the court.
Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism connected to another plot in Mayfair.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire 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 did not leave their bedrooms while coordinating the incident for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The individuals involved selected the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.
When the identical Ukrainian firm was subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the investigation.
Proof and Additional Schemes
When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings of the warehouse fire being started and was in communication with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.
Some of the messages indicated that reconnaissance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also deliberated.
Investigators found that the defendant Earl was also raising the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.
The individual involved in narcotics 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, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The court heard he was a participant in numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “simple and ugly greed”.
“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to acquire harmful worldwide sway using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”
She determined the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is banned by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.
