A British drug dealer paid by Russian intelligence operatives to recruit saboteurs who set fire to two London warehouses containing satellite equipment and aid for Ukraine was sentenced on Friday to 17 years in prison. The man, Dylan Earl, 21, ran what a judge described as a “successful drug-dealing operation” from the house he shared with his parents in Leicester, England. Officials said he had joined numerous pro-Russian “propaganda channels” online and eventually became a volunteer for the Wagner Group paramilitary organization. The prosecutor in the case, Duncan Penny, said Mr. Earl’s ambition was to wage “a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on U.K. soil, carried out in support of a foreign power — the Russian Federation — and its war of aggression against Ukraine.”Mr. Penny said that despite committing his activities from his bedroom, Mr. Earl was “willing to go to extreme lengths” to enact the orders from Russian intelligence operatives. Mr. Earl was also accused of planning to kidnap a Russia restaurant owner, and admitted to all charges.
