Three men guilty of setting fire to Ukrainian aid building for Russian terrorist group Wagner

Wagner have been listed as a terrorist organisation in the UK.

Transcript

00:00Three men were found guilty of carrying out an arson attack on a London warehouse linked to Ukraine,

00:09reportedly on behalf of the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

00:15Hakim Rose, 23 years old, Eugenius Assemna, 20, and Nii Mensah, 23 years old,

00:21were convicted at the Old Bailey of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life

00:28following the blaze at a unit that had been used to send aid and internet satellite equipment to Ukraine.

00:37According to evidence presented in court, eight fire crews and 60 firefighters responded to the blaze

00:44at the Cromwell Industrial Estate in Leighton, shortly before midnight on the 20th of March in 2024.

00:52The jury was told that a lorry driver parked nearby had tried unsuccessfully but bravely to put out the fire

01:01on the night of the attack as well.

01:05It was also heard that Rose dropped a large knife as they fled the scene, which was later found to contain his DNA.

01:13Additionally, Mensah had messaged Reeves to inform him that L-9, Rose's nickname, had left his Rambo,

01:22a large knife, at the scene of the crime.

01:25The court was then informed that the warehouse had been targeted specifically because it shipped humanitarian aid

01:33and essential goods to Ukraine, including Starlink satellite equipment vital to Ukrainian troops fighting against the Russian military.