london
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The mastermind behind last year’s arson attack on a Ukrainian-run business in London was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Friday for what prosecutors called “sustained acts of terrorism and sabotage” on mainland Britain.
Dylan Earle, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated arson in a February 2024 fire that targeted a company that shipped Elon Musk’s Starlink internet devices to Ukraine. He also admitted violations under the national security law, which was introduced in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to “address threats that fall outside of traditional espionage and intelligence operations.”
Earle’s accomplice, Jake Reeves, 23, also pleaded guilty to aggravated arson and national security charges. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The other four were found guilty in July of their involvement in a plot to burn down a warehouse on an east London industrial estate on behalf of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, a terrorist group with combat experience in Ukraine and banned in the UK.
CNN reported from the trial, which took place this summer at London’s Old Bailey. Courtroom testimony and police evidence revealed that experts say this is a classic example of Russia’s “shadow” attacks on European countries, where the Russian government has relied on a network of low-level criminals rather than well-trained operatives. Some are sympathetic to the Russian cause, others simply want money paid.
While Cold War-era espionage and sabotage operations required painstaking recruitment and planning, these operations now require just a few hours on Telegram and some cash. Analysts told CNN that this tactic is negatively impacting the modern “gig” economy, where hostile actors offer on-demand, unconditional work to a flexible workforce.
The Earl Reeves’ sentence came after British police arrested three men in their 40s on Thursday on suspicion of spying for Russia. London counter-terrorism police chief Dominic Murphy said his force was seeing an increase in the number of “agents” employed by foreign intelligence services. Three other people were arrested on the same charges in September.
Ken McCallum, head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, warned last year that Russia was waging an operation to “spark unrest on the streets of Britain and Europe”. Analysts say the campaign is aimed at showing Europe that aiding Ukraine comes at a price.
The alleged attacks include arson at a shopping mall in Poland and an IKEA store in Lithuania, a cyberattack on a Czech railway, and vandalism of a Jewish building in France. Russia denies involvement.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s former foreign minister, said trying to stop the campaign felt like playing whack-a-mole: “If you catch one, Russia can easily replace them with several others hired through Telegram.”
Hundreds of social media conversations reviewed by CNN during the trial showed how this new “gig economy” for sabotage works. Earle, a drug dealer, contacted a now-defunct Telegram account called Privetbot, which prosecutors allege was connected to Wagner and encouraged people to participate in operations across Europe between 2023 and 2024.
Within days of contacting the account, Mr. Earle (whose communications revealed sympathies for the Russian war) was designated the first target of an arson attack, a warehouse owned by a Ukrainian man. After talking with Earle, Reeves recruited others to carry out the attack.
Nii Mensah was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the attack. Jakeem Rose had eight. And Ugnius Asmena scored 7 points. Ashton Evans, who was involved with Earl in a separate plot to set fire to a London restaurant and kidnap its owner, was sentenced to nine years in prison. The plot failed in April 2024.
Frank Ferguson, head of the UK Prosecution Service’s special crime and counter-terrorism division, said the prosecution was “at a pivotal moment in our national security efforts”.
He said: “This case shows how important (national security) law is in protecting the UK from hostile state activity and ensuring that those who seek to undermine our safety and security are held to full account.”
