Five men were convicted of setting fire to the Starlink warehouse in London, allegedly coordinated by Wagner’s group. It was a violation of the National Security Act.
A British court on Friday sentenced five men who took part in setting fire to a warehouse in east London in March last year. A warehouse in the Leyton neighborhood housed Starlink generators and satellite equipment to be shipped to Ukraine. According to the British prosecutor’s office, the agents of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, acting on the instructions of Russian military intelligence, were behind the attack. TASR informs about it based on reports from Reuters and AP.
The jury found the perpetrators guilty back in July. On Friday, the court awarded them prison sentences ranging from seven to 17 years. The leader of the group, 21-year-old Dylan Earl, who confessed to the crime, received the highest sentence.
Punishment for sabotage
British prosecutors said the attempt to set fire to the warehouse was part of “long-term terrorist and sabotage activities on UK soil carried out in support of a foreign power – the Russian Federation – and its war of aggression against Ukraine”.
According to her, Earl coordinated the action with an intermediary who had ties to the Wagners. They also discussed plans to kidnap the co-founder of the Revolut banking application and set fire to a warehouse in the Czech Republic.
National Security Act
It is the first sentence handed down by a British court for breaching the National Security Act, which was introduced in 2023 to respond to threats from foreign powers, including espionage and sabotage activities.
