Recruited by Wagner: Britain condemns group for setting fire to warehouse with humanitarian aid and StarLink for Ukraine

In the UK, a group of men has been sentenced to prison for setting fire to a warehouse in London that supplied goods to Ukraine. The crime was committed by the terrorist Wagner Group, reports Bloomberg.

The arson attack on the warehouse in East London took place in March 2024 – the facility was used to supply humanitarian aid and satellite equipment StarLink to Ukraine. The crime caused losses of more than £1 million ($1.3 million).

On Friday, October 24, London judge Cheema Grubb sentenced 21-year-old ringleader Dylan Earle to 17 years in prison for arson and assisting foreign intelligence. His accomplice, Jake Reeves, received 12 years, and four other defendants were sentenced to seven to 10 years.

According to Grubb, the case was about Russia's attempts to influence Britain by using young men who were willing to be radicalized and betray their country for easy money.

The judge noted that previous generations would have had "a very simple term for the acts, treason". She added that the sentences reflect the "true price of easy money."

Among the defendants is 20-year-old Ashton Evans, who received 9 years in prison for failing to disclose a separate failed plan to attack and kidnap a restaurant and liquor store owner who is an active critic of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Judging by the details, it's about a former Russian businessman, Evgeny Chichvarkin.

The six convicts are the first group of people to be punished under the UK's National Security Act 2023, which gave the authorities more powers to prosecute modern espionage and expanded the list of what can be considered a threat to national security to include theft of trade secrets.

The convicted head of the group, Earl, was a loner and drug addict who spent most of his time on the Internet when he was recruited by the Wagner Group.

The man was an "easy meat for the very sophisticated operatives" of the terrorist organization, who acted as intermediaries (proxies) of the Russian Federation, the convict's lawyer said.

• On October 23, it became known that a Ukrainian citizen was detained in Poland, suspected of spying on the military facilities in the country in favor of Russia.