Bombs Of Disperse At The Ukrainian Embassy: Kyiv Instruction For Security Improvement, Spanish Police Holds Investigation

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tony total)

JAKARTA - Spanish police are conducting an investigation into a possible letter bomb link that exploded at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, with a similar package sent to the rocket launch manufacturer donated to Kyiv.

In the first incident, an Ukrainian Embassy officer in Madrid was injured while opening a letter bomb aimed at the ambassador, prompting Kyiv to order greater security at all of his overseas representative offices.

The letter, which arrived via an ordinary and unswincted post, left a very small wound on one finger, when officers opened it at the embassy park, Mercedes Gonzalez, a Spanish Government official, told broadcaster Telemadrid, citing Reuters December 1.

Hours later, a gun company in Zaragoza, northeast of Spain, received a similar package, police said.

Housing areas around the embassy in northwest Madrid were closed and bomb disposal units deployed to the scene, as well as the area around the Zaragoza factory.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ordered all embassies of the country abroad to "immediately" strengthen security, urging Spain to investigate the attack, a ministry spokesman said.

Ukraine's ambassador to Madrid, Serhii Pohoreltsev, later told TVE that he worked as usual at the embassy "without fear".

"We received instructions from the ministry in Ukraine that given the situation we must prepare for all kinds of incidents, all kinds of Russian activities abroad," he explained.

The ambassador declined to provide details on how the letter was handled, but said the injured workers had followed protocol and the embassy would improve the system.

Government representative in Zaragoza, Rosa Serrano said in an interview with SER station the two envelopes appeared to have the same sender, as the same email address was written behind the two.

Serrano said the packages were from Ukraine and this was what worried the gun company, who called the police. The envelopes sent to Zaragoza measuring 10 x 15 cm and X-ray showed explosives with cables ready to activate when the envelope opened, Serrano said.

The weapons company is Instalaza, a producer of the Spanish C90 rocket launcher to Ukraine. Police carried out an explosion at the factory and the incident reported no damage, according to the same media.

Meanwhile, Correos, a Spanish government-owned post company, told Reuters it was working together on the investigation.

The Ukrainian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the second incident.

Separately, the Spanish High Court has opened an investigation into the attack as a possible terrorism case, a judicial source said.