A security guard at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was on Wednesday lightly injured while opening a letter that contained a bomb and was addressed to the Ukrainian ambassador, prompting Kyiv to boost security at its embassies.
The letter, which arrived by regular post, exploded as the guard opened it in the embassy garden, said Mercedes Gonzalez, the Spanish government’s representative to the municipal government in Madrid.
The guard was discharged from hospital later that day and returned to work, Ukrainian Ambassador to Spain Serhii Pohoreltsev said.
Photo: AFP
In an interview with Spanish public television, Pohoreltsev appeared to blame Russia.
“We are well aware of the terrorist methods of the aggressor country,” he said.
“Russia’s methods and attacks require us to be ready for any kind of incident, provocation or attack,” he added.
The Spanish National Police Corps were informed of an explosion at the embassy at about 1pm, a police source said.
The source said the guard was “lightly” injured and “went himself to a hospital” for treatment.
Police have opened an investigation “which includes the participation of forensic police,” the source said, without giving further details.
Police put a security cordon around the embassy, which is in a leafy residential area in northern Madrid.
A man who lives in front of the embassy, who asked not to be identified, told Agence France-Presse that he had heard the explosion.
“I thought it was gunshot. It was not too loud,” he said.
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba ordered the strengthening of security at all Ukrainian embassies, Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on social media after the letter bomb went off.
Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares spoke with the ambassador by telephone “to ask about the well-being of the Ukrainian worker who was injured,” the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Albares also contacted Kuleba to express his “support and solidarity,” it added.
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