An British man has admitted orchestrating an arson attack on Ukraine-linked businesses in London in an act allegedly linked to the Russia-based Wagner Group.
Dylan Earl, 20, pleaded guilty to his involvement in a fire started at an industrial unit in Leyton, east London on March 20.
And he also admitted plotting to endanger lives and commit acts of serious violence against people in the UK.
At the Old Bailey on Friday, Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to aggravated arson and a charge of preparatory conduct under the 2023 National Security Act.
The Wagner Group is a proscribed terrorist group under UK law, and has strong ties to President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin in Moscow.
A court previously heard the arson attack targeted a property “owned by a Ukrainian” – referred to on legal papers as Mr X – and had been “carried out on behalf” of the Wagner Group.
The properties at the centre of the incident, in Staffa Road, Leyton, are owned by Ukrainian-linked firms Oddisey and Meest UK.
Earl was remanded in custody by Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb until a sentencing hearing at a later date.
Jakeem Rose, 22, Ugnius Asmena, 19, Jake Reeves, 22, Nii Mensah, 22, and Paul English, 61, are all accused alongside Earl on the aggravated arson charge.
It is said they all were involved in the fire “intending to destroy such property and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered”.
On Friday, Mensah, of Thornton Heath, south London, and English, who lived in Roehampton, south-west London, entered not guilty pleas, while Rose pleaded not guilty to aggravated arson before adding “guilty to simple arson”.
Earl pleaded not guilty to a third charge – associating with a foreign intelligence service – and prosecutor Duncan Penny KC said his pleas would be accepted without the need for him to stand trial.
“The facts of the case and the conduct in which the defendant became involved may adequately be described under count two (preparatory conduct)”, he said.
Reeves, from Croydon, and Asmena, of no fixed address, did not enter pleas on Friday. Both are charged with aggravated arson, and Reeves faces an additional charge of accepting cash knowing it was from a foreign intelligence service.
A sixth defendant, Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 22, from Croydon, has already pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose information about terrorist acts.
Rose, also of Croydon, previously pleaded guilty to possession of a knife in a public place.
A trial is due to start on June 2 next year.
