In the last twenty-four hours, at least five incendiary letters and package bombs have been sent to several institutions in Spain that seem to be connected to the war effort in Ukraine. The first instance was a letter bomb mailed to the Ukrainian Embassy yesterday which injured one embassy worker with non-life threatening injuries.
Then, an incendiary letter was sent to the Spanish Ministry of Defense and a package bomb was delivered to Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base. Both packages were intercepted and neutralized by explosive ordinance disposal teams. The fourth incident yesterday was when a package bomb was sent to Zaragoza Arms Manufacturers, which has been supplying rocket launchers to Ukraine.
Finally, this morning, a developing situation at the U.S. embassy in Madrid indicates that a letter bomb was also sent there.
These incidents have prompted the Russian Embassy in Madrid to denounce the various package bombs. Further raising suspicions that pro-Russian actors are engaging in terrorism to express their disagreement with the Spanish government’s support to Ukraine.
? La Embajada rusa en Madrid condena el envío de paquetes explosivos #NoticiasDeEspaña https://t.co/qVSxZuYiLm pic.twitter.com/RkCEH03kc6
— Madrid Actual (@madridactual) December 1, 2022
In January 2022, amid the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez asserted the Spanish support to the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine. On 21 February 2022, Sánchez “condemned” the Russian recognition of LPR and DPR, promising a coordinated response alongside Spain’s partners.
On 25 February 2022, after the 24 February all-out Russian invasion of Ukraine, the last remaining staff from the Spanish embassy in Kyiv (diplomatic service and GEO agents charged with the security) left in a convoy headed to the west of Ukraine. In addition to humanitarian aid, the Spanish Government approved the delivery of batches of lethal aid to Ukraine, including 1,370 anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration enabled reception, attention and relocation centres (CREADE) for Ukrainian refugees in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Barcelona, Alicante and Málaga, resolving around 40,000 applications for temporary protection over the course of the first three weeks of the conflict. During a video conference delivered before the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Spanish companies who had stopped doing business in Russia while calling reluctant companies Maxam Explosives, Porcelanosa and Sercobe to do the same.
On 18 April 2022, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced the imminent reopening of the embassy in Kyiv.[ On 21 April, Sánchez travelled to Kyiv, meeting with Zelensky and announcing the dispatch of the largest batch of weapons to Ukraine to date, with over 200 tons of military hardware in route to Poland in the Ysabel (A-06)ship. The Spanish embassy in Kyiv reopened on 22 April 2022. (wiki)
