🔗 Share this article

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

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had planned a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian state.

The individual named Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was sentenced to twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be convicted under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, 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 given seven years in prison. These three individuals were each convicted of serious fire-setting and received a further year on supervised release by the judge.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old individual involved in drug trafficking from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of failing to disclose details regarding acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.

Details of the Attack

The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in one million pounds worth of destruction 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 group targeted the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the identical Ukrainian firm was hit by an arson attack 10 days later in the Spanish capital, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on Telegram, via an account with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.

Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving arson attacks at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The employment of explosive devices to damage buildings was also discussed.

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

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

In a residence inspection, police found a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a street value of about £34,000.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

The court heard he was a participant in multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.

“This case is about the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

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