Three men have been convicted of a brazen arson attack on a London warehouse linked to Ukraine, orchestrated by Russian mercenary group Wagner. Jakeem Rose, 23, Ugnius Asmena, 20, and Nii Mensah, 23, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life.
The attack on the warehouse in east London’s Cromwell Industrial Estate in Leyton caused approximately £1 million worth of damage. The warehouse was targeted due to its connection with shipping humanitarian aid and goods to Ukraine, including Starlink satellite equipment crucial for Ukrainian troops.
According to evidence presented in court, Mensah and Rose were captured on CCTV and livestream video setting the warehouse on fire. The livestream, which was broadcast on FaceTime to Dylan Earl and Jake Reeves, showed petrol being thrown onto the warehouse unit doors, setting them ablaze. Eight fire crews with 60 firefighters responded to the blaze, which broke out shortly before midnight on March 20, 2024.
Earl, 20, and Reeves, 23, had already pleaded guilty to aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner Group, a private military organization proscribed as a terrorist group by the UK government. During the trial, the court heard that Earl had expressed interest in carrying out a series of “missions” for the Wagner Group, with the warehouse fire being the first.
Further investigation revealed additional plots to carry out arson attacks on a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, west London, and to kidnap its owner, Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin. Messages recovered from Earl’s phone showed that reconnaissance had been conducted, and discussions were ongoing about using explosives in the planned attacks.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, emphasized the severity of the case, stating, “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 activity in this country on their behalf.” A total of six men were involved in the trial, with Ashton Evans found guilty of one count of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, while Dmitrijus Paulauskas was acquitted.
David Cawthorne, unit head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism division, highlighted the targeted nature of the attack, saying, “It is clear that this was a targeted attack given the connection the warehouse had to Ukraine in shipping aid and other goods.” Earl is the first person to be convicted under the National Security Act, passed by Parliament in 2023 to address the growing threat of hostile state activity.
