MADRID/KYIV (Reuters) – Spanish police have linked two letter bombs sent to the Ukrainian ambassador in Madrid to an arms company that makes rocket launchers donated to Kyiv. They are investigating sex, they confirmed in a statement Wednesday.
In the first incident, an officer at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was wounded when he opened a letter bomb addressed to the ambassador, and ordered Kyiv to step up security at all its overseas representative offices.
Spanish government official Mercedes Gonzalez told television station Telemadrid that the letter, which arrived by regular mail but was not scanned, was opened by officials in the embassy gardens and found one finger. said he had “very minor injuries”.
Ambassador Serhii Pohoreltsev told Ukrainian news site European Pravda that a suspected package addressed to him had been handed over to the embassy’s commander-in-chief, a Ukrainian staff member.
“There was a box in the parcel, which made the commander suspicious and decided to take it outside and open it without anyone else nearby,” Pokhoreltsev was quoted as saying.
“After opening the box and hearing a click, he threw it away and heard an explosion. Despite not holding the box at the time of the explosion, the commander injured his hand and suffered a concussion. ”
A few hours later, police confirmed that an arms company in Zaragoza, northeastern Spain, had received a similar package.
Rosa Serrano, the government representative of Zaragoza, said in an interview with the SER station that the two envelopes appeared to be from the same sender, as the same e-mail address was written on the back of the two envelopes. rice field. Serrano said the package came from Ukraine, which alarmed the arms company and called the police.
The weapons company is Instalaza, the maker of the C90 rocket launcher that Spain is donating to Ukraine.
Enhanced security
[1/8] Police stand outside the Ukrainian embassy after one employee was injured while processing a letter when the embassy building exploded in Madrid, Spain, November 30, 2022. REUTERS/Juan Medina
After the first incident, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba ordered all Kyiv’s embassies abroad to “urgently” increase security and urged Spain to investigate the attack.
The Ukrainian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the second incident.
Ambassador Pokhoreltsev later told TVE that he was working as usual at the embassy “without fear”.
“There was an instruction from the Ukrainian Ministry that we must be prepared for all kinds of incidents … all kinds of Russian activities abroad”.
Russia invaded Ukraine Nine months ago, in what Kyiv and the West describe as gratuitous imperialist land grabs called “special military operations.”
The Spanish High Court has launched an investigation into the attack as a possible act of terrorism, judicial sources said.
According to the same media, police carried out a contained explosion inside the factory and the incident reported no damage.
The envelope sent to Zaragoza was 10 by 15 cm, and X-rays showed an explosive with wire lines ready to be fired when the envelope was opened, Serrano said.
Spain’s state postal company Correos told Reuters it was cooperating with the investigation.
Residential areas around the embassy in northwest Madrid were cordoned off, and bomb squads were deployed to the scene, as was the Zaragoza factory.
Belén Carreño, Jesús Aguado, David Latona, Emma Pinedo and Inti Landauro report in Madrid and Tom Baumforth in Kyiv. Written by Charlie Devereux.Edited by Deepa Babington, Alistair Bell, Cynthia Osterman
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