LONDON (AP) — A 20-year-old British man has been charged with orchestrating an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked target in London to gain advantages from the Russian state, prosecutors said Friday.
“The alleged activity included involvement in the planning of an arson attack on Ukraine-related advertising assets in March 2024,” the Crown prosecutor said in a statement.
Court documents allege that suspect Dylan Earl, from Leicestershire in central England, was connected to the banned terrorist group, the Wagner Group, the British news firm Press Association reported.
He is accused of preparing and financing an arson attack on two sets of a commercial estate in Leyton, east London, on March 20, which required the intervention of 60 firefighters to be controlled. A photo posted on social media that day via the London Fire Department showed several garages or warehouses destroyed by the fire.
Firefighters said in a statement that 3 fires broke through the chimney, which occurred shortly before midnight and took more than 4 hours to bring under control. He added that the cause of the chimney was being investigated by the fire brigade and fire personnel. London Police.
The alleged perpetrator of the plot is referred to as “Mr. X” in the charges.
The CPS, which is following cases in England and Wales, said two men, Paul English, 60, and Nii Mensah, 21, had also been charged with arson in the case.
A third, 22-year-old Jake Reeves, had been charged with accepting benefits from a foreign intelligence service and arson.
A fifth man, 22-year-old Dmitrijus Paulauska, has been charged with possession of terrorist acts, the PSC added.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “While we will have to let the judicial proceedings take their course, I am deeply implicated by allegations that British citizens are carrying out criminal activities on British soil to gain advantage from the Russian state.
“We will use the full weight of the criminal justice formula to hold those guilty of crimes similar to foreign interference accountable,” he wrote on social media platform X.
Dominic Murphy, head of London’s Counter-Terrorism Command’s Metropolitan Police who is leading the investigation, said: “This is a very important moment for us.
“Not only are the legal charges through the CPS incredibly serious, but it’s also the first time we’ve arrested, and now charged, someone with the powers and law conferred through the National Security Act. “
The National Security Act 2023 came into force in December last year and is designed to respond to the “risk of hostile activities across states that target the UK’s democracy, economy and values,” the government said at the time.
The five suspects are due to appear at Old Bailey Central Criminal Court, London, on 10 May.
The allegations come amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West, more than two years after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to continue.
The German government said a week earlier that it had arrested two other people suspected of spying for Russia, known as Russian-German citizens. They are accused of detecting potential attack targets in Germany, adding U. S. military installations in the country.
Relations between Britain and Russia have been strained for years, and deteriorated precipitously in 2018 when two Russian spies attempted to assassinate former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury in a high-profile assassination attempt that is incredibly fatal. As the attempt failed, a local woman who came into contact with the bottle containing the nerve agent died.
The two men accused of this attack managed to flee Britain before the fines were collected.