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A British judge sentenced five people on Friday for their role in an arson attack in London that authorities say was staged Russian Intelligence gathering as part of a wider campaign of sabotage and disruption.
The punishment was seven to 17 years in prison.
The men were involved in a plot to set fire to a warehouse in east London in March 2024, which contained satellite communications equipment. ukraineBritish prosecutors said the arson was organized on behalf of wagner The paramilitary group – closely linked to the Russian state – was possibly linked to another arson attack against a warehouse in Spain.
The fire is one of at least 25 arson or explosive plots Europe Western officials have been linked to Russia, which the Associated Press has documented since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.
European intelligence officials have told the AP that the risk of death or serious injury is rising as saboteurs directed by Russia are setting fires, planting explosives or building bombs near homes and businesses. Officials say the pattern of attacks is similar across Europe and the goal is to undermine support for Ukraine, sow fear and create conflict.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny said, “This crime was part of a series of European-wide sabotage campaigns.”
The actions of Dylan Earl – the British man who arranged the arson – “were a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on British soil, carried out in support of a foreign power – the Russian Federation – and a war of aggression against Ukraine,” Penny said.
The sentence was the first given by a British court for violating the National Security Act, which was introduced in 2023 to address threats from foreign states, including espionage and subversion. Britain’s counterterrorism police said three people were arrested under the act on Thursday on suspicion of spying for Russia.
Conspiracies of arson and kidnapping
Sentencing Earl, 21, to 17 years in prison, Judge Bobby Cheema-Grubb said he was a member of several pro-Russian propaganda channels on Telegram and was part of a “malignant” conspiracy organized by Moscow. Earl “played a leading role in terrorist activities”, he said.
An arson in east London caused 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) of damage to a warehouse owned by a Ukrainian couple who shipped Starlink satellite communications equipment to Ukraine. These devices are often used by the Ukrainian military.
A counter-terrorism officer from the Metropolitan Police told the court in a statement that the couple also owned a business on the outskirts of Madrid, which was set on fire 10 days after the attacks in London.
“The method used, the time of night, the time of year, and the targeted business strongly suggest that the two incidents may be linked,” Penny said, reading from the officer’s statement.
During the trial, the jury was shown messages where Earl and his co-conspirators also talked about burning London businesses owned by Evgeny Chichvarkin – a Russian tycoon who delivered supplies to Ukraine – and kidnapping him.
During sentencing, the court heard how Earl also tried to pay for intelligence information from a man identified as a serving British soldier Wagner Group – A mercenary organization whose operation was taken over by the Russian Defense Ministry in 2023.
The earl also discussed burning down a warehouse in the Czech Republic for 35,000 pounds ($47,000), kidnapping another billionaire for extortion purposes and the need to collect bank card details on European residents, a day after an arson attack in London.
Earl’s defense attorney Paul Hines portrayed him as a “tragic” fantasist who boasted to his Russian recruiter that he could be “the best spy you ever saw” as well as having ties to international criminal gangs.
Hines said that Earl had a difficult childhood and saw the world through “the delusional lens of online gaming”.
He communicated with the Privet bot on Telegram – an account that posted several times in a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner Group, asking people to join the fight against the West. The court heard that the Metropolitan Police released a photograph of Earl on Friday, holding his passport, to confirm his identity from the Privet bot – which was possibly linked to Russian military intelligence.
The recruiter and Earl communicated primarily in Russian, with Earl using Google for translation.
The Privat bot asked Earl to “gain access to bank accounts containing funds destined for Ukraine,” including Russian assets seized after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country.
“We need people who are our kindred spirits,” the Russian recruiter said.
Earl was “easy meat” for the Wagner Group’s “sophisticated operatives,” Hines said. But Judge Bobby Chima-Grubb disagreed with that assessment and said he was motivated by “simple and ugly greed.”
Patterns across Europe
Police and intelligence services are grappling with similar attacks across Europe, including where people have been recruited online.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Polish authorities have investigated several arson attacks on shopping centers, industrial zones and apartment buildings, highlighting how Russian operators often “follow the same pattern” in attacks across Europe, said Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesman for Poland’s security minister. Authorities said Tuesday they have detained people in connection with another plot to send explosives into Ukraine.
In 2024, a Colombian man was instructed over the Telegram messaging app to set fire to two warehouses in Poland and then traveled to the Czech capital Prague and set fire to public buses.
Dobrzynski told the AP that, like Earl, he was given the location of the fire, given instructions on how and when to set it, and was asked to provide video evidence to Russia’s intelligence services in order to get paid.
The goal of the arson attacks is to “intimidate people”, create conflict and weaken European societies and support for Ukraine, Dobrzynski said. It is also about testing the response of law enforcement and – because conspiracies often involve multiple people and areas of investigation – it is also about wasting police resources, he said.
Five people, including Earl, were sentenced Friday for their roles in the arson.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of counter terrorism policing at the Metropolitan Police, said Earl and his 23-year-old co-conspirator Jake Reeves both “voluntarily acted as hostile agents on behalf of the Russian state.” Reeves was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
But Nii Mensah, 23, Jakeem Rose, 23; 20-year-old Eugenius Asmena did not know he was working for Russia. He was found guilty of aggravated arson and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment; Eight years, 10 months and seven years in prison respectively. Ashton Evans, 20, was sentenced to nine years in prison for failing to disclose information about terrorist acts.
When armed police swoop in to arrest Earl in the parking lot of a home improvement store in April 2024, they tell him he is being arrested under new powers of the National Security Act.
“I hope you guys have some good evidence,” Earl told the officers. “I hope I get a good story for it.”