Ukrainian embassies in Europe receive “bloody packages”
A spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said parcels had been received at embassies in the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy and Austria, as well as consulates in Naples and Brno, in Czech Republic. One of them was also detected at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid.
Yevhenia Voloshchenko, a Ukrainian official in Rome, said the package received at her embassy contained a fish eye. Czech police said the envelope in Brno contained “animal tissue”, adding that it was first checked for explosives and prompted an evacuation of the immediate surroundings, including a garden of ‘children. Police says a similar package also arrived at the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague.
Separately, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See said the entrance to his apartment in Rome had been vandalized, with the exterior stairwell, ceiling and front door plastered with ” dirty stuff”. An Italian police spokesperson said the substance was feces.
“It was like a warning. Everyone should be prepared for a repeat of the same terrible act,” Ambassador Andrii Yurash said in a phone interview. Russia to threaten Ukrainian diplomats.”
He said his building didn’t have cameras but they would be installed soon.
It is unclear whether the letter bombs in Spain have any connection to the other incidents across Europe. The letter bombs were received at a series of high-profile locations, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office, as well as the US Embassy in Madrid, where the letter was deactivated in a controlled detonation .
In the case of the letter at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, an employee suffered non-life-threatening injuries while trying to open it and received medical treatment.
A letter also arrived at the beginning of the week on a site of the arms manufacturer Instalaza, which produces the C90 grenade launchers sent to Ukraine by the Spanish government.
The Russian Embassy in Spain, on its official Twitter account, appeared to suggest on Thursday that it had played no role in the campaign, denouncing any terrorist threat or act against a diplomatic mission as “totally condemnable”.
Spanish news agency Europa Press said on Friday that Spain’s interior minister had communicated with other European countries, as well as the European Commission, warning that the letters “could be linked to the invasion of the ‘Ukraine by Russia’.
Rafael Pérez Ruiz, Spain’s secretary of state for security, said on Thursday it appeared all the letters came from inside the country, but warned the investigation was still ongoing.
In Spain and throughout Europe, part of the population is increasingly frustrated by the war in Ukraine, which has economic and energy consequences throughout the continent.
washingtonpost Gt
