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Six Britons working on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been sentenced to prison for igniting a London-based warehouse that was storing humanitarian aid intended for Ukraine.

Court Rulings and Involvement

While delivering the sentences, the judge at the central criminal court remarked that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian government.

Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given 12 years in prison with an additional year on extended licence. Their admitted crimes resulted in them being the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was homeless, was handed seven years. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and given a additional year on supervised release by the court.

Ashton Evans drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on supervised release after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in Mayfair.

Incident Specifics

The arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton, east London put 60 firefighters at risk and caused £1m in damage in March of the previous year.

The proceedings revealed that Earl, 21 and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation.

The individuals involved selected the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

When the same Ukrainian company was hit by an intentional fire ten days afterward in Madrid, detectives from the Met’s counter-terrorism command assumed control of the probe.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was arrested, law enforcement examination 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 user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the communications indicated that preliminary surveillance for further “missions”, involving fire-related incidents at a restaurant and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident 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 considering the possibility of kidnapping Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to face prison”.

The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a residence inspection, police located a Russian flag, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine with a market value of about £34,000.

Motivations and Judicial Remarks

The proceedings revealed he was a participant in numerous channels promoting Russian propaganda and was driven by “simple and ugly greed”.

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

She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner group is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist organisation.