Wagner Group stooges jailed for Russian state ‘sabotage campaign’ on UK warehouse
Wagner Group employees have been jailed over an arson attack on an east London warehouse storing aid for Ukraine.
The fire in Leyton on 20 March 2024 was part of a “campaign of terror and sabotage” planned for the Russian state.
It caused £1 million of damage, endangered lives and required 60 firefighters to extinguish it.
The warehouse was targeted by the terrorist Wagner Group because it was used to deliver humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
Then architect Dylan Earl set his sights on more “missions”, targeting a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair and the kidnapping of the restaurant’s owner, wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin.
The court heard Earl was a member of numerous pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “simple and outrageous greed”.
On Friday Earl and five other teenagers were sentenced at the Old Bailey for what the judge described as a “planned campaign of terror and sabotage” in the interests of the Russian state.
Lady Justice Cheema-Grubb said: “This case concerns efforts by the Russian Federation to gain harmful global influence by using social media to mobilize saboteurs far from Moscow.”
He said the arson attack was not an isolated incident, as another warehouse was hit in Spain 10 days later, and Earl discussed another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
The judge ruled that the arson attack had a “terrorist connection” regardless of whether the perpetrators knew it or not.
Earl, 21, and organizer Jake Reeves, 24, pleaded guilty to the charges against them, becoming the first people to be convicted of crimes under the National Security Act of 2023.
Drug dealer Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his “leading role” in terrorist activity, plus a further six years on extended licence.
Reeves, of Croydon, south London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a year on extended licence.
Jakeem Rose, 23, of Croydon, south London, was sentenced to eight years and 10 months in prison; Nii Mensah, 23, of Thornton Heath, south London, was jailed for nine years and Ugnius Asmena, 21, a homeless man, was jailed for seven years after being found guilty of carrying out aggravated arson following an Old Bailey trial.
They were each given a one-year extended license by the judge, who observed the “true price” of what some might see as “easy money”.
Their case was the first to result in the conviction of British criminals acting as proxies for the banned Wagner Group.
Drug dealer Ashton Evans (20), of Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to nine years plus a further year on extended licence, after being found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts related to the Mayfair scheme.
The court heard that Earl and Reeves never left their bedrooms when they carried out the arson attack on behalf of the Wagner Group, which acted on behalf of the Russian Federation.
Earl told a Wagner Group official he met on Telegram that he was willing to carry out a series of “missions”, of which the Leyton fire would be the first.
During the conversation, Earl’s contact, Privet Bot, instructed him to watch the Cold War spy drama The Americans and use it as a “guide” for his undercover mission.
Earl was arrested in a B&Q car park in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and videos of the warehouse fire started were found on his iPhone.
Police searched his home and seized more than £20,000 in cash and a Russian flag containing cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of £34,000.
Evidence on his phone revealed details of a cryptocurrency account holding more than £58,000 and images of bundles of cash estimated to total £175,000.
In an attempt to make light of Earl, Paul Hynes KC said he was “easy meat” to be exploited by the Wagner Group because he sees the world “through the prism of online games.”
Mr Hynes said: “This is not a John le Carre novel. But those who wish evil on the UK and other countries will continue to try to hold on to people like Mr Earl.”
Henry Blaxland KC, for Reeves, said the evidence showed “the extent to which the Russian state and its agents have managed to gain entry into the UK by taking advantage of teenagers embedded in their computers”.
He said Reeves’ decision was “distorted” by his excessive use of the drug ketamine.
The men recruited by Earl and Reeves to carry out the arson attack in Leyton were “amateurs” motivated by the promise of money they never received, the court was told.
Following the sentencing, Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of London Counter Terrorism Police, said: “This case is a clear example of an organization linked to the Russian state using ‘proxies’ – in this case British men – to carry out very serious criminal activities on its behalf in this country.
“The ringleaders, Earl and Reeves, willingly acted as enemy agents on behalf of the Russian state.
“I am pleased that, working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, we were able to use the new National Security Act legislation, which meant that the seriousness of Earl and Reeves’ offending was reflected in the charges they faced.”
Frank Ferguson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This successful investigation marks a pivotal moment in our national security efforts.
“The National Security Act has given the Crown Prosecution Service and law enforcement the tools to counter threats from hostile states with greater precision and force.”
