🔗 Share this article

A group of six individuals from Britain working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a London-based storage unit that was storing relief supplies destined for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” in the interests of the Russian government.

The individual named Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year jail term with an additional six years on extended licence due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with one year on extended licence. The offences they admitted made them the initial persons to be found guilty under the 2023 National Security Act.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was homeless, was handed seven years. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and given a further year on supervised release by the judge.

Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years plus a further year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about terrorist acts relating to another plot in the Mayfair area.

Incident Specifics

The deliberate fire on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused one million pounds worth of destruction in March last year.

The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves did not leave their bedrooms while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.

The individuals involved targeted the storage facility because it was being used to supply emergency relief and satellite communication gear to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had recordings 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 usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.

Detectives discovered that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “exiling him back to Russia to face prison”.

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

In a residence inspection, law enforcement located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The proceedings revealed he was a member of numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This legal matter concerns the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”

She found the fire incident had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is banned by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.