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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 located in London warehouse that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.

Sentencing and Roles

Sentencing the men, the presiding judge at the Old Bailey remarked that they had planned a “series of terrorist and sabotage acts” to benefit the Russian state.

The individual named Dylan Earl was given a 17-year jail term with an additional six years on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. 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 found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.

Jakeem Rose, also from Croydon, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, 23, a Thornton Heath, South London local, was sentenced to 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 additional year on extended licence by the court.

Ashton Evans individual involved in drug trafficking hailing from Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years with an extra year on extended licence after being found guilty of withholding details regarding terrorist acts connected to another plot in Mayfair.

Incident Specifics

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

The group selected the warehouse because it was being used to supply 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 assumed control of the investigation.

Proof and Additional Schemes

When Earl was arrested, police analysis of his cellphone uncovered he had recordings of the warehouse fire being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner group on the Telegram messaging app, via an user profile with the usernames ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike alias’.

Some of the communications indicated that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving arson attacks at a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.

Investigators found that Earl was also considering the potential abduction of the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.

The drug dealer from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech Republic.

In a search of his home, law enforcement located a flag of Russia, over twenty thousand pounds in currency and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.

Driving Factors and Court Comments

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

“This case is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”

She determined the fire incident had a “terrorist connection” irrespective of if the perpetrators knew it. The Wagner organization is banned by the UK government as a terrorist group.