A British jury convicted three men of setting fire to a London warehouse where Ukrainian-bound equipment was being stored, a plot prosecutors said was orchestrated by operatives linked to the Russian mercenary company Wagner.
The ruling, issued July 8, was the latest to highlight what Western intelligence officials say is a secret campaign by Russian intelligence operatives hiring people – usually unwittingly -- to carry out sabotage or surveillance.
Prosecutors said three men -- Nii Mensah, 23, Jakeem Rose, 23, and Ugnius Asmena, 20 -- were convicted of aggravated arson in the March 2024 fire at the Ukrainian-owned warehouse in East London.
The warehouse was being used to store generators and StarLink satellite equipment, which has been instrumental in helping Ukrainian forces on the front lines.
Officials said the three had been recruited by two other men -- Dylan Earl, 20, and Jake Reeves, 23.
According to prosecutors, Earl and Reeves – who had previously pleaded guilty to related charges -- were contacted and hired for the arson attack by operatives from the Wagner Group, which is Russia’s highest-profile private military company.
Investigators said Earl contacted Russian intelligence operatives via a Telegram messaging channel used by Wagner, and volunteered to undertake jobs or tasks.
Earl and Reeves then allegedly recruited the three others to attack the warehouse, although they did not know they were working on behalf of Wagner, British officials said.
Wagner’s operations and notoriety have partially diminished after its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023, two months after leading an aborted mutiny against the Kremlin.
The company has largely been broken up, with many of its units absorbed by the Defense Ministry and other security agencies.
Other commercial entities linked to Prigozhin or Wagner remain in business in Africa and elsewhere.
Officials said Earl and Reeves had also pleaded guilty to charges related to a separate plot to kidnap a Russian man who is an outspoken critic of the Kremlin and set fire to the acclaimed restaurant he owns in London’s posh Mayfair district.
The man, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, was the owner of a Russian mobile phone company who fled to Britain in 2009 amid a series of Russian criminal investigations against him. He later became a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin’s government.
