Overview
- The Old Bailey handed multi‑year terms to six men, including 17 years for Dylan Earl with six years on licence and 12 years for Jake Reeve with one year on licence, with others receiving roughly eight to ten years and Ashton Evans nine years.
- The March 2024 fire hit an east London site used by Oddisey and Meest UK to store humanitarian supplies and Starlink equipment for Ukraine, causing about £1–£1.3 million in damage.
- Prosecutors said the sabotage was directed by the Wagner private military company to benefit a foreign state, and Earl and Reeve became the first people convicted under the UK’s 2023 National Security Act.
- Evidence presented in court included Telegram exchanges with a contact dubbed “Privet Bot,” plus plans for further arson, attacks on Hedonism Wines and the Hide restaurant, and the kidnapping of businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin; Earl was arrested on 10 April 2024 before those plans were carried out.
- The government later expelled a Russian military attaché and tightened visa and diplomatic property rules related to Russia, while Moscow rejected the allegations as baseless.