Wagner-Linked UK Arsonists Convicted Under Security Act

Three men have been found guilty of an arson attack on a London warehouse linked to Ukraine, in a plot orchestrated by the Russian Wagner mercenary group. The attack targeted a warehouse supplying humanitarian aid and Starlink equipment to Ukraine, causing around £1 million in damages. Dylan Earl and Jake Reeves admitted their roles, pleading guilty to aggravated arson and charges under the UK's National Security Act. Prosecutors said Earl was recruited via a Wagner-linked Telegram channel, and revealed plans for additional attacks and a kidnapping of a Russian dissident. This case marks the first convictions under the UK's new National Security Act for hostile foreign state activity. British officials cited the case as a landmark example of Russian state-linked groups using UK nationals as proxies.