Three men found guilty of Wagner Group-linked arson attack in London

Three men have been found guilty of an arson attack on a London warehouse linked to Ukraine on behalf of Russian mercenary group Wagner.

Jakeem Rose, 23, Ugnius Asmena, 20, Nii Mensah, 23, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life after the blaze at the unit, which sent aid and internet satellite equipment to Ukraine.

The attack was orchestrated by Dylan Earl, 20, and Jake Reeves, 23, who had already admitted aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner Group – which the UK government has proscribed as a terrorist group.

Around £1m-worth of damage was caused in the attack on the warehouse in east London, last year, the Old Bailey heard.

A fourth man, Paul English, 61, was cleared of wrongdoing.

Mensah and Rose were captured on CCTV and a livestream video on Mensah’s phone as they set the warehouse on fire.

The livestream showed petrol being thrown onto the warehouse unit doors, setting them alight.

Eight fire engines composed of 60 firefighters were called to the Cromwell Industrial Estate in Leyton after it broke out shortly before midnight on 20 March 2024.

On the night of the attack, the jury heard a lorry driver parked nearby had bravely but unsuccessfully attempted to put out the fire.

The warehouse was targeted because it shipped humanitarian aid and goods to Ukraine, including Starlink satellite equipment – crucial for Ukrainian troops.

During the trial, the court heard there were more plots to carry out arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, west London and to kidnap its owner, a multi-millionaire and Russian dissident.

Earl is the first person to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act, passed by Parliament in 2023, to deal with the increased risk of hostile state activity.

“This case is clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using ‘proxies’, in this case British men, to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf,” head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Dominic Murphy said.

The court heard Earl used the messaging app Telegram to communicate with the Wagner Group.

A fifth man, Ashton Evans was found guilty of one count of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson.

A sixth man, Dmitrijus Paulauskas was found not guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts.

David Cawthorne, unit head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism division, said: “These convictions send a very clear message that this type of offending will not be tolerated on UK soil.”