Letter bomb injures employee at Ukrainian embassy in Spain

The Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and a Spanish arms manufacturer whose weapons are being used in Kyiv’s defence against Russia received letter bombs on November 30, with the former delivery causing a minor injury to a worker at the diplomatic mission.

An envelope sent to the embassy and addressed to Ambassador Serhii Pohoreltsev exploded as an employee tried to open it, said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko. The worker suffered non-life-threatening injuries and received medical care. No other embassy staff were injured. Spanish police were seen cordoning off the embassy’s premises on November 30, The Washington Post reports.

The staffer received superficial cuts to a finger on his right hand, according to El País, the Spanish newspaper. The letter was shipped in a regular-sized envelope and the address and recipient’s name were handwritten in blue ink, the newspaper reported, citing police sources.

Another envelope was sent to Instalaza, which produces the C90 grenade launchers sent to Ukraine by the Spanish government to help Kyiv defend itself. The package was detonated by local law enforcement, according to El País.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba instructed the country’s embassies to tighten security in the wake of the attack, said Nikolenko, the spokesman. Kuleba also said that perpetrators of the attack would not intimidate Ukraine in its fight against Russia, according to his spokesman, adding that Kyiv had asked Madrid to urgently investigate the attack.

Spanish officials are investigating possible connections between the two explosives and examining if they have any link to the Russian invasion, according to El País.

The Spanish Embassy in Ukraine condemned the attack in a statement, saying the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

Madrid has been a steady supporter of Kyiv in the face of Russian aggression. As of August, it had taken in some 130,000 Ukrainian refugees, according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry. It has also provided small arms and air-defence assets while dispatching financial aid to Kyiv.

Spain also pledged generators to Ukraine, after repeated Russian attacks against Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks.