Mail terrorism: Four Ukrainian embassies, Spanish institutions helping Ukraine receive letter bombs, threats

Four Ukrainian embassies and a string of institutions in Spain helping the Ukrainian Army have received letters with bombs and other threatening substances in the last two days. One of them exploded, injuring one person. On 30 November, a package addressed to the ambassador of Ukraine in Spain exploded, injuring a security officer at Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid. Spain classified the incident as a terrorist attack. Later in the day,  the Spanish company Instalaza, which produces weapons sent to Ukraine as military aid, also received a package that likely contained an explosive device. So did the Torrejon-de-Ardoz Airbase which shares intelligence with Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence of Spain, and the US embassy in Madrid. The next day, on 1 December, Politico reported that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was also previously sent a letter bomb. It was intercepted on November 24. The interior ministry said in a statement that the letter bomb to Sánchez was delivered by regular mail and was “similar in its characteristics and content to those received by the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, by the company Instalaza in Zaragoza and by the Torrejón Air Base.”

Ukraine points finger at Russia

On 1 December, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba revealed that apart from the embassy in Madrid, three other Ukrainian embassies were targeted with letters containing threats. He said that they were attacked not with an explosive device but with a "different substance." "I will not comment on this yet; we will soon make an official statement. Let’s say there is a symbolic threat to Ukraine in these letters. I can only say that, upon receipt, the letters were soaked in a red liquid," Kuleba said. He called the incident an intimidation of Ukraine and its diplomats. "Currently, we are analyzing what happened. I have come to one simple conclusion: if they start to attack embassies with bombs, with some satanic or voodoo symbols, then they are afraid of us and are trying to stop us. But nothing can stop us," he stressed. Speaking earlier at the 29th OSCE Ministerial Council in Łódź, Kuleba said Ukraine was working with the Spanish police to identify the culprits. "This is definitely a new form of terror. We are working very hard with the Spanish authorities to establish who is behind this. We certainly have a guess but we need to trace the entire network of agents and people involved in this campaign," said the Ukrainian foreign minister.

Explosives to not change Spanish support for Ukraine

Visiting the Ukrainian city of Odesa, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that neither the shipment of explosive letters nor any other violent activity will change Spain's "firm and clear" commitment to support Ukraine in its defense against the Russian military offensive, Electomania reported. "None of these shipments or any other violent action is going to change the clear and firm commitment of Spain, the NATO countries, and the European Union to support Ukraine, because Ukraine is defending a just cause," she remarked.