Six men have been jailed for their parts in a Russian-ordered arson attack on a London warehouse providing aid to Ukraine.

The fire at industrial units in Leyton, east London, on 20 March 2024 caused £1.3m in damage.

Ringleader Dylan Earl was recruited by the Wagner Group, a mercenary organisation that acts on behalf of the Russian state and is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison plus a further six years on extended licence.

Before his arrest, he was also plotting to kidnap a wealthy Russian dissident.

Earl, 21, from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, admitted a National Security Act offence and aggravated arson, along with Jake Reeves, 24, from Croydon, who was given 12 years in prison plus one year on extended licence.

Reeves helped Earl recruit a group of men to carry out the arson. The pair are the first to be convicted of offences under the National Security Act 2023.

The act is designed to tackle threats that fall short of traditional spying and can involve third party actors not working directly for a hostile state, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says.

Of the other four men sentenced:

• Nii Mensah, 23, from Thornton Heath, who streamed the attack, was convicted of aggravated arson and jailed for nine years
• Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport,pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, convicted for failing to tell police what he knew about a planned kidnapping, and jailed for nine years.
• Jakeem Rose, 23, from Croydon, who set the buildings alight, pleaded guilty to have a bladed article in a public place, convicted of aggravated arson and jailed for eight years and 10 months
• Ugnius Asmena, 21, of no fixed address, who arranged the getaway car and was there on the night, was convicted of aggravated arson and jailed for seven years

All four each received a further year on extended licence.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04g5x1wq5vo