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A group of men have been convicted for their roles in an arson attack ordered by the Wagner Group on an east London warehouse linked to Ukraine, in the first case to result in convictions of Britons acting for the banned Russian terrorist group.
About £1m of damage was caused by the fire at an industrial unit in Leyton, east London, last March, which took eight fire crews, composed of 60 firefighters, to get under control, the Old Bailey was told.
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.
After an Old Bailey trial, Mensah, Rose and Asmena were found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life.
The attack was orchestrated by Dylan Earl, 20, and the 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 wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin, which were ultimately unsucessful.
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.
Jurors had heard “overwhelming” evidence linking the arsonists to the warehouse attack.
They were tracked by phone data and traffic cameras as they were driven in a Kia Picanto through south London and the scene of the fire, which was covered by CCTV.
More footage captured Rose and Mensah getting out of the vehicle, climbing over a wall and approaching the warehouses, jurors heard.
As they fled the scene, Rose dropped a very large knife with his DNA on it, with Mensah later messaging Reeves to say: “L9 (Rose’s nickname) left his Rambo at the scene.”
Afterwards, Mensah messaged Earl: “Bro there was bare smoke … You saw it on Face Time.” Later, he added: “Bro lol it’s on the news … we dun damagees (sic).”
Another man, Paul English, 61, was cleared of aggravated arson.
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.
Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 23, was cleared of two similar offences relating to both terrorist plots after the jury deliberated for nearly 22 hours.
The prosecutor, Duncan Penny KC, said that while the arsonists had been motivated by the promise of money, Earl and Reeves had orchestrated it for Russia.
Earl had told a Wagner Group operative he met on Telegram he was keen to carry out a series of “missions”, of which the Leyton fire was to be just the first.
Reeves was also prepared to accept money from a foreign intelligence service to target the Russian dissident and his London-based businesses next, the jury was told.
Earl admitted preparing to set fire to the Hide Restaurant and Hedonism Wines in Mayfair, west London, and to kidnap Chichvarkin, on behalf of the Wagner Group.
The court was told the two Mayfair businesses targeted by the Wagner Group collectively employed 200 people and were valued at more than £30m.
Chichvarkin was described as a “high-profile Russian dissident and refugee” who has been vocal in his criticism of President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Earl’s Wagner Group contact, known as Privet Bot, instructed him to watch the period drama The Americans and use it as a “manual” for his covert mission.
He was arrested in a B&Q car park in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and videos of the warehouse fire being started were found on his iPhone.
In a search of his home in Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, police recovered a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of some £34,000.
After Reeves’s arrest at East Croydon railway station, police uncovered videos on his phone that were taken by Mensah on the night of the arson attack.
The security minister, Dan Jarvis, said: “Another proxy group acting for Russia has been brought to justice, thanks to the work of our criminal justice system.
“National security is the foundation of our plan for change, and these convictions should serve as a clear warning to those seeking to undermine our national security or the safety of the UK. Those acting on Russia’s behalf will be met by the full force of the law.”
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the convicted defendants would be sentenced on a date to be fixed in the autumn.
