Russia’s Wagner Group Hired Gang to Set Fire to Ukraine’s Starlink Supplier, Jury Told

Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told a London trial jury, ‘This was deliberate and calculated criminality, at the behest of foreign influence.’

A court artist's sketch shows (front, L–R) Nii Mensah, 23; Paul English, 61; Jakeem Rose, 23; and Ugnius Asmena, 20; (back, L–R) Dmirjus Paulauskas, 23, and Ashton Evans, 20, on trial in London on June 4, 2025. PA via AP

Six men went on trial in London on June 4 over an arson attack on a business that supplied Starlink satellite equipment to Ukraine, in a case that prosecutors say is linked to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.

At the start of the trial at London’s Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old Bailey, prosecutor Duncan Penny KC said the arson attack on March 20, 2024, was planned by Wagner agents. Wagner was designated a terrorist organization in the UK in 2023.