In a case that has sent shockwaves through British security circles, the Old Bailey heard this week how a young man from Leicestershire orchestrated a campaign of arson, espionage, and sabotage on behalf of Russia’s notorious Wagner Group, targeting businesses linked to Ukraine and prominent Russian dissidents in London. The revelations, laid bare in court on October 23, 2025, have exposed a chilling new chapter in foreign interference on UK soil, with authorities warning of an escalating threat from Russian intelligence proxies.
Dylan Earl, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated arson for his role in a March 20, 2024, blaze at an industrial warehouse in Leyton, east London—a facility that stored humanitarian aid and Starlink satellite equipment destined for Ukraine. According to BBC and Reuters, the fire required eight fire crews and 60 firefighters to subdue, ultimately causing about £1 million in damage. The warehouse, used by companies delivering Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals to Ukraine, was deliberately chosen by Earl and his co-conspirators for its links to the embattled nation.
But the arson attack was only the tip of the iceberg. Prosecutors revealed that Earl, described as a “sad individual” by his defense and an “easy puppet in the hands of others,” had been in direct contact with a handler from the Wagner Group—a Russian mercenary organization proscribed in the UK and widely accused of acting as a proxy for the Kremlin. Earl’s communications, uncovered by police and presented in court, showed he was eager to take on more ‘missions,’ including plots to set fire to a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair and to kidnap their owner, Evgeny Chichvarkin—a wealthy Russian dissident and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin.
“Earl’s actions constitute a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil, carried out in support of a foreign power, the Russian Federation, and its war of aggression against Ukraine,” prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told the court, as reported by BBC and Reuters. He emphasized that Earl “demonstrated a willingness to go to extreme lengths, including endangering lives.”
On the day of his arrest in April 2024, Earl was found to be discussing, via Telegram, the possible kidnapping and extortion of Nikolay Storonsky, the Russian-born billionaire co-founder of finance app Revolut. His Wagner handler, known as ‘Lucky Strike,’ asked, “Can you catch somebody and get him to transfer money to your accounts?” Earl replied, “He is a billionaire so he will have a lot of security and systems to protect unauthorized payments. But I will research more into this and see if it’s possible.”
His ambitions didn’t stop at London. Earl also plotted to burn down a large warehouse in the Czech Republic for £35,000 (around $47,000), even attempting to recruit someone living in Slovakia to carry out the attack. “A warehouse needs to be [fire emoji],” Earl wrote in a message, later adding, “It’s big.” When asked when the job needed to be done, he replied, “The sooner the better. Asap really.”
Perhaps most alarming to authorities, Earl tried to buy intelligence from a serving British soldier. In messages shown to the court, Earl offered payment for information, writing, “I work for a PMC [private military company]… we pay well for intelligence.” The soldier, identifying himself as Huncho 0tf, boasted, “Tell your superiors I can get any type of information not only in my squadron but I have mates in the SAS.” The prospect of active-duty personnel being approached for espionage has heightened concerns about the vulnerability of the UK’s armed forces to foreign recruitment efforts.
As the investigation unfolded, police discovered further evidence of Earl’s criminal activities and links to Russia. He was arrested in a B&Q car park in Hinckley, Leicestershire, with videos of the warehouse fire on his iPhone. A search of his home turned up a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash, cocaine hydrochloride valued at £34,000, and cryptocurrency accounts holding over £58,000. Photographs showed bundles of cash estimated to total £175,000. Earl admitted possessing cocaine and thousands of pounds in criminal cash, adding drug offenses to his already lengthy charge sheet.
Six men in total, including Earl and Jake Reeves, 24, from Croydon, were convicted or found guilty of offenses related to the arson and terrorism acts. Others—Jakeem Rose, 23, Nii Mensah, 23, and Ugnius Asmena, 21—were found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life, while Ashton Evans, 20, from Newport, was convicted of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts. The group’s activities, according to prosecutors, represent the first convictions under the National Security Act 2023, which carries a maximum life sentence.
Throughout the trial, Earl’s defense painted him as a vulnerable young man, isolated in his bedroom, addicted to drugs and online gaming, and manipulated by sophisticated Wagner Group operatives. “He was easy meat for the very sophisticated operatives of the Wagner Group acting as proxies for the Russian Federation,” argued barrister Paul Hynes KC. “He never left his bedroom. He never met the people he recruited… These are not sophisticated agents of espionage.” Hynes likened his client to the deluded fictional character Walter Mitty, suggesting Earl was desperate for praise and significance.
The prosecution, however, maintained that Earl was well aware of the consequences of his actions. “As expressed in messages he sent and received, he knew that Units 1 and 2 of the Cromwell Industrial Estate were being targeted because they were arranging deliveries of aid to Ukraine,” Penny told the court. The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, dismissed the notion that modern espionage required “dropping people behind enemy lines,” pointing instead to the power of encrypted messaging apps and online recruitment in contemporary sabotage efforts.
The case comes amid a wider warning from British authorities about the growing campaign by foreign intelligence services to recruit ‘proxies’ in the UK. Police announced on Thursday that three more men had been arrested on suspicion of assisting Russia’s intelligence service, underscoring official concerns about the scale and sophistication of Russian operations in Britain. The Kremlin, for its part, has denied any involvement, with its embassy in London rejecting accusations of orchestrating the warehouse fires or recruiting British citizens for sabotage.
As sentencing looms, the saga of Dylan Earl stands as a stark reminder of the evolving nature of international espionage and the real-world consequences of online radicalization and recruitment. The case has left a mark not only on the victims of the attacks but also on the broader landscape of British national security, as the country grapples with new threats in an increasingly interconnected and volatile world.
