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Two British nationals have been charged with conducting hostile activity in the UK to benefit Russian intelligence after a suspected arson attack on a London-based business linked to Ukraine.
Prosecutors said on Friday that Dylan Earl, 20, of Leicestershire and Jake Reeves, 22, of Croydon in South London, had been charged with national security offences after a fire broke out at a warehouse in east London last month. Lorries carrying aid for Ukraine had been dispatched from the address.
The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service said Earl, who was arrested earlier this month, had been charged with “assisting a foreign intelligence service” as well as aggravated arson and preparing an act which could endanger life or create “a serious risk to the health and safety of the public” in the UK.
It is alleged that Earl planned and paid others to burn down the east London property on March 20. Reeves, meanwhile, faces charges of agreeing “to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service”, as well as arson.
The CPS and the Metropolitan police, whose counterterror officers led the investigation, named the foreign state as Russia.
“Included in the alleged activity was involvement in the planning of an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property,” said Nick Price, head of the CPS’s special crime and counterterrorism division.
Two other men have been charged with aggravated arson in connection with the case, while a fifth has been charged with having information about terrorist acts, the CPS said.
“This is a highly significant moment and investigation for us,” Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said. “Not only are the charges . . . extremely serious but it is also the first time that we have arrested, and now charged, anyone using the powers and legislation brought in under the National Security Act.”
The act became law last year, with the specific aim of toughening up legislation against foreign-sponsored espionage.
Lord David Cameron, Britain’s foreign secretary, said: “While we must let the judicial process run its course, I am deeply concerned by allegations of British nationals carrying out criminal activity on UK soil to benefit the Russian state.”
In a social media post, Cameron added: “We will use the full weight of the criminal justice system to hold anyone found guilty of crimes linked to foreign interference to account.”
All five suspects are due to appear at the Old Bailey on May 10.
The investigation is related to a fire that broke out at two adjacent businesses at an industrial estate on Staffa Road in Leyton, the BBC reported.
According to Companies House records, two parcel delivery services, Oddisey and Meest UK, are registered at that address and are owned by Mykhaylo Prykhodko, also known as Mikhail Boikov, and Jelena Boikova, who both live in London. Neither are accused of any wrongdoing.