Arsonists guilty of attack in London for Wagner Group

Three men have been found guilty of an arson attack on a warehouse linked to Ukraine on behalf of the Wagner Group. About £1m of damage was caused by the blaze at an industrial unit in Leyton, east London, on 20 March last year, the Old Bailey was told.

- EMILY PENNINK

Nii Mensah, 23, 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, and Gatwick airport cleaner Jake Reeves, 23, who 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 on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, and the kidnapping of their owner, the wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin.

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

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Mensah, Rose, and Asmena were found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life. 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 was cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson.

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

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