Warehouse fire in Leyton (London) targeting Ukrainian aid supplier

On 20 March 2024, two warehouse units on the Cromwell industrial estate in Leyton, east London, were set on fire. The targeted units belonged to Ukrainian-owned businesses and were storing humanitarian aid, generators and Starlink satellite equipment destined for Ukraine. The blaze caused around 1 million pounds in damage and required a large firefighting response. The case was investigated by counter-terrorism police as part of a wider plot.

Prosecutors established that the attack was orchestrated through the Russian Wagner Group. Dylan Earl had made contact with Wagner-linked accounts on Telegram in 2023 and, with Jake Reeves, recruited locally hired proxies to carry out the fire and to plan further actions. On 8 July 2025, a jury at the Old Bailey convicted Nii Mensah, Jakeem Rose and Ugnius Asmena of aggravated arson; Earl and Reeves had already pleaded guilty, including to offences under the National Security Act 2023, becoming the first people convicted under that Act. At sentencing in October 2025, Earl received 17 years, Reeves 12 years, Mensah 9 years, Rose 8 years and 10 months, and Asmena 7 years. Ashton Evans received 9 years for a related offence.

The conviction marks the first use of the National Security Act 2023 and confirms a pattern of hostile states using disposable local criminal proxies, recruited online, to conduct sabotage on UK soil while preserving deniability. Targeting Ukrainian aid and Starlink equipment fits a broader European campaign of arson and disruption attributed to Russia and its intermediaries. The relatively low recruitment cost, combined with significant physical damage and risk to life, signals continued exposure for logistics sites supporting Ukraine, and the prosecutions establish a legal template for future hybrid-warfare cases.