Gang guilty of arson attack on behalf of Wagner Group

CROYDON MEN WERE AMONG PLOTTERS

- By EMILY PENNINK

THREE men have been found guilty of an arson attack on a warehouse linked to Ukraine on behalf of the terrorist Wagner Group following a groundbreaking trial.

About £1 million of damage was caused by the blaze at an industrial unit in Leyton, east London, last March 20, the Old Bailey was told.

Nii Mensah, 23, had livestreamed on his phone as he and Jakeem Rose, 23, set fire to the building while fixer Ugnius Asmena, 20, waited in a car, jurors heard.

The attack was orchestrated by Dylan Earl, 20, with Gatwick airport cleaner Jake Reeves, 23, who had targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

They went on to plot more arson attacks in a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair and the kidnap of the owner, the wealth Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin.

Earl and Reeves had admitted aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner Group and were the first to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act 2023, jurors heard.

Earl had also admitted possessing cocaine and thousands of pounds in criminal cash.

Following an Old Bailey trial, Mensah, Rose, and Asmena were found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life.

The case is the first to result in convictions of British criminals acting as proxies for the proscribed Wagner Group.

Driver Paul English, 61, was cleared of wrongdoing.

Ashton Evans, 20, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to the Mayfair plot but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson.

Dmirjus Paulauskas, 23, was cleared of two similar offences relating to both terrorist plots after the jury deliberated for nearly 22 hours.