Arsonists acting for the Russian Wagner group have been found guilty for a 2024 fire on a building used to supply humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

A group of men have been convicted for their roles in an arson attack ordered by the Wagner Group on an east London warehouse linked to Ukraine.

Approximately £1m of damage was caused by the fire at an industrial unit in Leyton, east London, last March, which took eight fire crews, composed of 60 firefighters, to get under control.

Nii Mensah, 23, livestreamed on his phone as he and Jakeem Rose, 23, set fire to the building while Ugnius Asmena, 20, waited in a car, jurors heard.

After an Old Bailey trial, Mensah, Rose and Asmena were found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life.

The attack was orchestrated by Dylan Earl, 20, and Gatwick airport cleaner Jake Reeves, 23, who targeted the warehouse because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.

They went on to plot more arson attacks in a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair and the kidnap of the owner, the wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin, which were ultimately unsuccessful.

Earl and Reeves had admitted aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner Group and were the first to be convicted of such offences under the National Security Act 2023, jurors heard.

Another man, Paul English, 61, was cleared of aggravated arson.

Ashton Evans, 20, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to the Mayfair plot but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson.

Dmitrijus Paulauskas, 23, was cleared of two similar offences relating to both terrorist plots after the jury deliberated for nearly 22 hours.