A gang responsible for setting fire to a London warehouse supplying aid to Ukraine, acting on orders from Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, has been handed long prison sentences.

Source : European Pravda, citing Sky News

Details : The attack was conducted on the orders of the Wagner Group, a private military organisation that acts on behalf of the Russian state, and caused damage amounting to approximately £1 million.

Dylan Earl, Jake Reeves and four others were convicted of espionage, terrorism offences and arson for their involvement in the attack.

Earl, 21, admitted that in March last year he planned to set fire to industrial sites in Leyton, east London, following instructions from the Wagner Group, which is banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation.

He was sentenced to a total of 23 years, of which he will serve 17 in prison. Reeves was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with a further year on licence.

The court heard that Earl, from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and Reeves, 24, from Croydon, south London, chose the site because it was being used to send humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

Earl recruited Reeves to help him plan the arson attack. Reeves then recruited his friend Nii Kojo Mensah to carry out the attack.

Mensah recruited his friend Jakeem Rose, and Ugnius Asmena also took part in the attack.

It took eight fire crews with 60 firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

The gang planned further arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, central London, as well as an attempt to abduct the owner, wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin.

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