Trial Begins in Britain Over London Arson Ordered by Wagner PMC
In the United Kingdom, legal proceedings have commenced against six individuals accused of arson targeting the premises of a London-based company that supplied aid to Ukraine.
European Pravda reported on this, citing Reuters.
The prosecution asserts that the act was carried out on behalf of the Russian private military company Wagner.
The arson attacks took place in March 2024 at an industrial facility in East London owned by the company Oddisey, which supplied equipment and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including Starlink terminals.
Paul English, 61, Nii Kojo Mensah, 23, Jakeem Rose, 23, and Ugnius Asmena, 20, deny charges of aggravated arson. Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 23, and Ashton Evans, 20, deny knowing about terrorist acts but failing to disclose the information.
The arson is believed to have been orchestrated by Dylan Earl, who in October of last year admitted to committing the arson and preparing actions that endangered the lives of others.
Another man, Jake Reeves, 23, pleaded guilty in November to charges of aggravated arson and admitted a charge under the NSA of obtaining a material benefit from a foreign intelligence agency, meaning he accepted taking money from Wagner that was to be provided by Russian security services, prosecutor Duncan Penny stated.
He noted that Earl and Reeves were also involved in a plot to carry out arson attacks on the Hedonism wine shop and Hide restaurant in the upmarket Mayfair district of London. Penny said the plot also involved kidnapping the owner, a high-profile Russian dissident and vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had personally driven aid trucks from Britain to Ukraine.
According to the prosecutor, the six defendants likely did not fully understand the political implications of the situation they were involved in and were motivated by financial gain.
The trial began on Wednesday, June 4. The jury was shown the suspects’ messages, surveillance footage, and evidence seized from smartphones demonstrating how they accessed the warehouse and set the fire using gasoline. The court proceedings are expected to last approximately five weeks.
In May, Militarnyi reported that the British police’s counterterrorism unit suspected Russia of organizing the arson attacks on three facilities associated with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
