Ukrainian spy 'tried to poison Russian military pilots with doped cake and booze'
A Ukrainian spy who tried to poison scores of Russian military pilots with doped cake and booze has been sentenced to 27 years behind bars on terrorist charges. Accused Yegor Semenov, 34, had been recruited by Kyiv's Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) in a bizarre plot to kill graduates from Russia's elite Top Gun school, the trial heard.
Judges at the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don heard how Semenov had been promised RUB 400,000 (GBP 3,600) by his handlers to carry out the mass poisoning. Semenov, who had the SUB codename 'Mercenary 35', had targeted 70 guests at a reunion party for Russia's Armavir Higher Military Aviation School in Krasnodar Krai. The 70-plus party-goers included some of Russia's most experienced and senior pilots, military chiefs and their families.
Prosecutors told how Semenov had bought 118 bottles of booze like Jameson's Irish Whiskey and cheap Armenian Kochari brandy and a giant cake.
According to the court he injected them with the huge doses of the powerful medical stimulant cordiamine, which can cause seizures and respiratory arrest.
Finally, it was decided Semenov used a courier service to send the toxic treats to the party at the Tsarskaya Okhota restaurant with a note pretending saying they were gifts from a missing guest.
But the closed-door trial heard how the plot fell apart when some pilots became suspicious of the medical smell coming from the cake and called police to the bash in April last year (2024).
Forensic tests showed the cake and every bottle of alcohol had been doped by the deadly drug, once used in small doses by Adolf Hitler's doctor to combat barbiturate overdoses.
Semenov was arrested just hours later in possession of a return ticket to Moscow and plans to flee to Egypt.
The court heard how Semenov discussed the plot in encrypted messaging apps with his SUB paymasters.
Prosecutors told how Ukrainian-born Semenov had moved to Russia in 2018 and obtained Russian citizenship four years later.
But after the Kremlin's invasion of his homeland, he contacted the SUB and offered to help them sabotage the Russian military.
Semenov admitted treason and terrorism but claimed he had been blackmailed by the SUB who had threatened to harm his mother.
But under interrogation, police said Semenov had described his feelings of "pure joy" at the idea of the elite Russian pilots tucking into the poison.
The trial began in January 2025 and concluded with the hefty jail sentence on 29th April.
Semenov will serve the first five years in a hard-labour prison, with the remainder in a strict-regime penal colony, followed by one year of restricted freedom.
Prosecutors had pushed for a full life tariff and now plans to appeal the sentence.
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South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
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North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Wagner Group UK proxy instructed to use Cold War drama as a ‘manual'
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South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
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Dylan Earl, 20, has admitted orchestrating an arson attack on an east London warehouse, and plotting to burn down Mayfair businesses and kidnap their Russian dissident owner last year. On Thursday, jurors at the Old Bailey saw chat between Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and a Wagner Group contact identified by the handle Privet Bot on Telegram. The day before the arson attack, Privet Bot instructed Earl to watch the television series The Americans, about KGB agents undercover in the US, 'in order to understand work'. Privet Bot went on: 'The idea is like that. You need to organise partisan cells in the country and in Europe and think of a name for your movement. We'll give you support… 'Watch this series. It will be your manual. You'll have a source of funding through organising arsons.' Jake Reeves has admitted aggravated arson and an offence under the National Security Act (Metropolitan Police/PA) The court has heard how Earl allegedly roped in Jake Reeves, 23, from Croydon, south London, to help recruit people to carry out the arson attack on the warehouse. Earl also revealed his plans to Ashton Evans 20, from Newport, Gwent, on Signal, Snapchat and mobile phone messages, it is alleged. They had initially communicated about drug dealing, with Earl adopting the name of a notorious Russian 'hitman', the court was told. Evans was allegedly aware that Earl had orchestrated the warehouse arson attack. Three days after the fire, which caused £1 million of damage, Evans asked: 'Did you light it up?' the court was told. They went on to discuss the plot to burn down Hide restaurant and Hedonism wine shop in Mayfair, snatch the owner and hand him over to Russia. Earl warned there would be a 'good amount of heat after this' and it would be 'on every news channel and radio in our country'. Evans allegedly replied: 'Yes, I can sort if there is a way we can do so without people getting hurt cause that's when the police will take very very serious – like t***or (terror) level serious.' Stressing the need for security, Earl told him: 'It will be a huge thing and every single spy agency trying to find who did it so careful ok.' Evans agreed that it would 'bring a lot of attention MI5 etc', the court heard. On April 1 2024, Earl asked Evans to delete their chats and asked if he could make connections with the IRA or the Irish Kinahan crime family. Earl suggested he wanted to 'build a link' between the Kinahans and Russia, saying: 'We have direct connection to the Kremlin, we can do suin (something) big.' After his arrest, Evans claimed he did not take the chat seriously, having jokingly told Earl: 'And this is all in mine craft, right?' He also claimed in a police interview that he was just stringing Earl along to get a refund for £300 of fake cocaine he had bought, the court was told. Earl and Reeves have pleaded guilty to aggravated arson of the east London warehouse and an offence under the National Security Act. The court was told that Reeves had revealed details of their plans to another contact, Dmirjus Paulauskas, having described Earl as 'Russian mafia'. On the kidnap plot, Reeves allegedly told Paulauskas that the idea was to 'get him sent back to Russia for imprisonment'. Paulauskas, 23, from Croydon, allegedly responded to Wagner Group activity on UK soil with glee, saying: 'I'm so f****** gassed cos that means the west has already have already u r allowed to call urself Russian now (sic).' The defendant, who was later to claim that he took none of it seriously, allegedly responded to the warehouse attack by saying: 'Holy f*** so Wagner literally has UK gangs doing their work..' Shortly before their arrests, the men pondered why Earl – 'the Russian guy' – had not been on Snapchat for five days. Paulaskas suggested he was busy in his job 'sabotaging UK'. Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told jurors that by then Earl had been in custody for nine days. He said: 'The position is clear: Reeves told Mr Paulauskas about the plan to kidnap the target, who had sent money to Ukraine and who was to be sent back to Russia, and about the fact that the attack on the east London warehouse.' Mr Penny added that the realisation there was foreign interference by the Wagner group on British soil through the use of 'UK criminals as proxies', seemed to have been a matter of 'quite some pleasure' to Paulauskas. Evans and Paulauskas have each denied two charges of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, which they deny. Jakeem Rose, 23, from Croydon, Ugnius Asmena, 20, of no fixed address, Nii Mensah, 23, of Thornton Heath, south London, and Paul English, 61, of Roehampton, south-west London, have denied aggravated arson relating to the warehouse fire. The Old Bailey trial continues.
