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.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
Separatists in Alberta are preparing to submit a petition tomorrow that they said has enough signatures to force a referendum on independence for the oil-rich Canadian province. Polls indicate the pro-independence camp remains a minority among Alberta’s 5 million people, but has hit a historic high of roughly 30 percent. Alberta separatists are also closer than ever to forcing a referendum, riding momentum fueled by intensifying grievances over Ottawa’s control of the provincial oil industry. They have also undeniably gotten a boost from the return to power of US President Donald Trump. After launching a petition in January, Stay Free Alberta, the group
RSS