A 20-year-old Briton has been charged with "hostile activity" in favour of Russia by organizing attacks against "companies linked to Ukraine", authorities said, AFP reported.
"Dylan Earle, 20, is suspected of targeting businesses linked to Ukraine to benefit the Russian state," said Nick Price, head of the prosecutor's office's counter-terrorism unit.
This includes "arson planning" of a company "linked to Ukraine" last month.
The prosecutor's office announced that four more men have been charged with lesser crimes in the case.
They appeared in a London court on April 22 and were remanded in custody, but court-ordered restrictions prevented the case from going public until then.
Court documents released for the hearing link the case to the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which is classified as a terrorist organization in the UK.
"While we must allow the legal process to unfold, I am deeply disturbed by the allegations that British nationals have carried out criminal activity on UK soil for the benefit of the Russian state," Foreign Office chief David Cameron responded in X.
"We will use the full weight of the justice system to hold accountable anyone found guilty of crimes related to foreign interference," he added.
Britain is a major supporter of Ukraine and the country has long accused Russia of hostile activities on its soil, such as the poisonings of former Russian spies Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and Sergei Skripal in 2018.
In the details, Dylan Earle is charged specifically with aiding a foreign intelligence service, and one of the other defendants, Dmitriy Paulauska, is charged with accepting a "material benefit" from a foreign service.
The other two men are charged with "aggravated arson".
Prosecutions have been brought under the new National Security Act of 2023.
"This is a very important moment and investigation for us," insisted the head of London's Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command. "Not only are the charges cleared by the Crown Prosecution Service extremely serious, but it is also the first time we have arrested and charged someone using the powers and legislation under the National Security Act. /BGNES
