Russia’s Wagner Group Hired People to Carry Out London Arson Attack

Last March there was a massive warehouse in the town of Leyton which is in East London. The fire took substantial resources to put out.

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters tackled a fire involving a range of industrial units at an industrial estate on Staffa Road in Leyton. 

Part of three single-storey units were damaged by fire. There were no reports of any injuries.

An investigation eventually proved the fire hadn’t been an accident. It was a case of arson carried out by young locals who had been hired by the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary group. It turns out the warehouses were full of Starlink satellite receivers that were headed to Ukraine. Ukraine had turned to Starlink as the only way to maintain communications because Russia couldn’t hack or damage the Starlink system.

A 20-year-old British man has been charged with planning an arson attack on a Ukraine-linked business and assisting Russian intelligence services.

Dylan Earl, from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire, has been charged under the National Security Act 2023, the first case to involve alleged offences under the new legislation…

Earl is accused of undertaking fraudulent activity, research and reconnaissance of targets, and attempting to recruit individuals to materially assist a foreign intelligence service carrying out UK-related activities, prosecutors have said…

Earl is alleged by prosecutors to be connected to the proscribed terrorist organisation the Wagner group. The mercenary group has played a prominent role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has also been active in conflicts in Syria, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Libya.

Nick Price, the head of the CPS special crime and counter-terrorism division, said: “Dylan Earl, 20, is alleged to have engaged in conduct targeting businesses which were linked to Ukraine in order to benefit the Russian state.

Earl was reportedly a drug dealer who was looking for a fresh start, possibly a chance to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Instead he got orders from a Telegram account to burn the warehouse.

…by 16 March – four days before the attack – he was being tasked by a Telegram account linked to the Wagner Group to do some work in the UK.

It used the name Privet Bot – meaning “hello bot” in Russian – a notorious Telegram account that has encouraged sabotage attacks and murder in other parts of Europe.

The account wrote to Earl: “We have our first task for you. The map shows there are a few buildings at this address. And there are warehouses among them.

“They sponsor and provide aid to Ukrainian terrorists. Today we await from you photos and videos of the warehouse and the building and of the people owners of the warehouse.”

Earl scouted the spot and then helped put together a crew of four additional men, Nii Kojo Mensah, Jakeem Rose, Ugnius Asmena and the man who drove them who was later cleared because he didn’t know what they were planning to do. They went to the warehouse in one car with a can of gasoline in the trunk.

With Mensah streaming the whole event to Earl on FaceTime, Rose poured petrol along the front of the warehouses, lit a rag, and set the buildings alight.

After it was done they fled and when Earl relayed his success to the Telegram account, they stiffed him but then said he wanted him to do another job. While all this was being planned, Earl was arrested and pleaded guilty. Today, four other members of the plot were convicted.

A gang of petty criminals has been found guilty of carrying out an arson attack on behalf of the Wagner Group on an east London warehouse holding aid for Ukraine.

Jakeem Rose, 23, Ugnius Asmena, 20, and Nii Mensah, 23, three men from south London, took part in a plot to start the blaze at the Cromwell Industrial Estate in March last year, which caused about £1 million of damage before being extinguished by 60 firefighters and eight fire engines…

After the verdict, Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said: “This case is clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using ‘proxies’ — in this case British men — to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf.

Here are the mugshots of these dopes.

Jakeem Rose, Ugnius Asmena, and Nii Mensah were just found guilty. Two others Dylan Earl and Jake Reeves already admitted to their part.

All tied to the same plot. pic.twitter.com/JdgAtVxRqk

— COSSACKGUNDI (@cossackgundi) July 8, 2025