LONDON (AP) – A British judge on Friday sentenced five men for their roles in an arson attack in London that authorities say was masterminded by Russian intelligence as part of a wider campaign of sabotage and disruption.
Their sentences ranged from seven to 17 years in prison. Another man was sentenced for not disclosing information about a plot to burn a London restaurant.
Five men were involved in a plot to set fire to a warehouse in east London in March 2024 that contained satellite communication devices destined for Ukraine.
The judge said that the arson – organized on behalf of the Wagner paramilitary group – was part of a planned campaign of terrorism and sabotage in the Russian state’s interests. It was likely linked, she said, to another arson attack against a warehouse in Spain.
The fire is one of at least 25 arson or explosives plots across Europe linked to Russia by Western officials that The Associated Press has documented since Moscow´s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022.
European intelligence officials told the AP that the risk of death or serious injury is rising as saboteurs directed by Russia set fires near homes and businesses, plant explosives or build bombs.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny said that the attack was “part of a series of European-wide sabotage operations.”
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said the case “is about the efforts of the Russian Federation to gain pernicious global influence using social media to enlist saboteurs vast distances from Moscow.”
The sentences were the first a British court imposed for violating the National Security Act, which was introduced in 2023 to address threats from foreign states including espionage and sabotage.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke about the arson attack as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London.
“We will not tolerate this hostile activity,” he said, telling Zelenskyy, “your security is our security.”
Dylan Earl – the British man who arranged the arson – was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Cheema-Grubb said that he was a member of numerous pro-Russia propaganda channels on Telegram before he was recruited.
The arson in East London caused 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) in damage to a warehouse owned by a Ukrainian couple who shipped Starlink satellite communication devices to Ukraine. The devices are often used by the Ukrainian military.
The couple also own a business on the outskirts of Madrid that was set on fire 10 days after the attack in London, a counterterrorism officer from the Metropolitan Police told the court in a statement. The methods used “strongly” suggest that the two incidents may be linked, they said.
Earl, 21, and his co-conspirators also talked about burning down London businesses owned by Evgeny Chichvarkin – a Russian tycoon who delivered supplies to Ukraine – and kidnapping him.
Earl also tried to pay someone identified as a serving British soldier for intelligence for the Wagner Group – a mercenary organization whose operations were taken over by Russia´s Defense Ministry in 2023.
A day after the London arson, he also discussed burning down a warehouse in the Czech Republic and, later, kidnapping another billionaire and collecting bank card details on European residents.
Earl´s defense attorney, Paul Hynes, painted him as a “sad” fantasist who boasted to his Russian recruiter that he could be “the best spy you have ever seen” as well as of having ties to international criminal gangs.
Hynes said that Earl had a difficult childhood and saw the world through the “delusional prism of online gaming.”
He communicated on Telegram with Privet Bot – an account which posted multiple times in a Telegram channel linked to the Wagner Group, asking for people to join the battle against the West.
The Metropolitan Police on Friday released an image of Earl holding up his passport to confirm his identity to Privet Bot – who likely was linked to Russian military intelligence, the court heard.
Privet Bot asked Earl to “get access to bank accounts containing money destined for Ukraine,” including Russian assets frozen after President Vladimir Putin´s invasion of the country.
“We need those who are our kindred spirit,” the Russian recruiter said.
Earl told his psychiatrist that he received 5,000 euros ($5,815) in cryptocurrency for the attack and Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said that he was motivated by “simple and ugly greed.”
Police and intelligence services are grappling with similar attacks – including online recruitment – across Europe.
Polish authorities have investigated multiple arson attacks on shopping centers, industrial areas and apartment buildings which show how Russian operatives often “follow the same pattern” in plots across Europe, said Jacek Dobrzy´nski spokesperson for Poland´s security minister.
In 2024, a Colombian man was directed on the Telegram messaging app to set fire to two warehouses in Poland and then to travel to the Czech capital, Prague, to set fire to public buses.
Like Earl, he was given the location for the fires, instructions on how and when to set them and told to provide video evidence to Russia´s intelligence services to get paid, Dobrzy´nski told the AP.
The goal of the arson attacks is to “intimidate people,” create conflict and to undermine European societies and support for Ukraine, Dobrzy´nski said. It´s also about testing the response of law enforcement and – because the plots often involve multiple people and lines of investigation – draining police resources, he said.
Five men were sentenced Friday alongside Earl for their roles in the plots.
Both Earl and his co-conspirator Jake Reeves, 24, “willingly acted as hostile agents” for Russia, said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Policing at the Metropolitan Police. Reeves was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
But Nii Mensah, 23, Jakeem Rose, 23, and Ugnius Asmena, 20, didn´t know they were working for Russia. They were found guilty of aggravated arson and sentenced to nine years; 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.
The sentences, Cheema-Grubb said, “must send a signal,” that engaging in online activity which undermines the security of the U.K. is “not worthwhile.”
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