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

Sentencing and Roles

While delivering the sentences, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian government.

Dylan Earl was given a seventeen-year prison sentence with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “leading role”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, from Croydon in south London, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with an additional 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, aged 23, also from Croydon, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was sentenced to nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each found guilty of aggravated arson and given a additional year on extended licence by the court.

Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment with an extra year on extended licence after being convicted of withholding details regarding 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 £1m in damage in March last year.

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

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 subjected to an arson attack 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit took over the investigation.

Evidence and Further Plans

When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone 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 account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the messages indicated that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine shop in Mayfair district belonging to the Russian opposition figure Evgeny Chichvarkin had already taken place. The use of explosives to harm structures was also deliberated.

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

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about an additional planned incident in the Czech nation.

In a search of his home, police located a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine with a market value of approximately thirty-four thousand pounds.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

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

“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using social media to recruit disruptors vast distances from Moscow.”

She determined the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” irrespective of if the individuals responsible were aware of it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the British authorities as a terrorist group.