An envelope believed to contain explosives was intercepted at the US Embassy in Madrid this Thursday, bringing the number of such letters identified in Spain to six, according to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.
The envelope was found around 12:30 pm local time (11:30 am in Lisbon) and the appropriate security protocol was activated and a police device was sent to the area of the US embassy building, the same source said.
This morning, the Secretary of State for Security of the Government of Spain confirmed the identification of five envelopes containing explosives from the last week, which were sent to the Prime Minister, the Ukrainian Embassy, the Minister of Defense, the satellite center and the arms company.
“Both the characteristics of the envelopes and the contents,” the materials and substances commonly used in pyrotechnics, “are the same in five cases,” Secretary of State Rafael Perez said at a press conference in Madrid.
The envelope sent to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was intercepted last week on November 24, and the rest were identified on Wednesday and today.
On Wednesday, at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, a man was not seriously injured due to an explosion of an artifact inside an envelope.
In other cases, the explosive was defused or controlled detonation.
The Secretary of State said that it is necessary to wait for analyzes and studies of “various nature” carried out by police experts, as well as for forensic investigations to become known and reveal more details.
Rafael Pérez insisted on a “message of calm” to the population and guaranteed the training and professionalism of the Spanish security forces to deal with such cases.
In addition, he reiterated that the security measures and security of all public buildings and diplomatic missions in Spain have been strengthened, and said that there is no reason yet to “convene a group to assess the level of anti-terrorist readiness.”
The secretary also declined to say whether the Spanish authorities were aware of similar cases in other European countries “that helped Ukraine.”
Instalaza, in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon region (northeast Spain), the recipient of one of the envelopes with explosives, manufactures military equipment that was sent by Spain to Ukraine to support the Ukrainian armed forces, shortly after the start of the Russian attack on February 24.
Ukraine has been under military attack by Russia since February, which is an aggression condemned by the international community as a whole.
Russia today condemned “any terrorist threat or act” following the sending of these explosive letters to Spain.
“Any threat or act of terrorism, especially directed against a diplomatic mission, is completely condemned,” the Russian Embassy in Madrid said in a statement released today.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Spain Serhiy Pogoreltsev said today that the embassy is improving its security systems and supported declaring Russia a “terrorist state.”
Putin has repeatedly consulted with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the invasion, Europa Press told Ukraine’s chief intelligence director Vadim Skibitsky.
According to Skibitsky, it was the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for counterintelligence and espionage work, that put pressure on Gerasimov and other military agencies to agree to launch an offensive. .
However, according to the Ukrainian intelligence services, the FSB considered that by the end of February sufficient preparations had already been made to guarantee the success of the Russian Armed Forces in a lightning invasion.
However, according to Kyiv, the Russian General Staff provided the Russian troops with supplies and ammunition for only three days, hoping that the offensive would be swift and immediately successful.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence also emphasized the cooperation of local residents, who always provided the Ukrainian authorities with up-to-date information about the Russian army, such as the number of soldiers or the exact location of troops.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).
At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.
The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.
A Stockholm court on Monday sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life in prison for spying for Russia, and his brother to at least 12 years in prison. In what is considered one of the most serious cases in Swedish counterintelligence history, much of the trial took place behind closed doors in the name of national security.
According to the prosecution, it was Russian military intelligence, the GRU, who took advantage of the information provided by the two brothers between 2011 and their arrest at the end of 2021.
Peyman Kia, 42, has held many senior positions in the Swedish security apparatus, including the army and his country’s intelligence services (Säpo). His younger brother, Payam, 35, is accused of “participating in the planning” of the plot and of “managing contacts with Russia and the GRU, including passing on information and receiving financial rewards.”
Both men deny the charges, and their lawyers have demanded an acquittal on charges of “aggravated espionage,” according to the Swedish news agency TT.
The trial coincides with another case of alleged Russian espionage, with the arrest of the Russian-born couple in late November in a suburb of Stockholm by a police team arriving at dawn in a Blackhawk helicopter.
Research website Bellingcat identified them as Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova. The couple allegedly acted as sleeper agents for Moscow, having moved to Sweden in the late 1990s.
According to Swedish press reports, the couple ran companies specializing in the import and export of electronic components and industrial technology.
The man was again detained at the end of November for “illegal intelligence activities.” His partner, suspected of being an accomplice, has been released but remains under investigation.
According to Swedish authorities, the arrests are not related to the trial of the Kia brothers.
“They can strengthen their positions. We understand that this can happen. At the same time, we do not rule out that they will announce a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online publication.
Danilov believed that this mobilization would also be convened “to exterminate as many as possible” of Russian citizens, so that “they would no longer have any problems on their territory.”
In this sense, Danilov also reminded that Russia has not given up on securing control over Kyiv or the idea of the complete “destruction” of Ukraine. “We have to be ready for anything,” he said.
“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up on the idea of destroying our nation. If they don’t have Kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we must understand this,” continued Danilov, who also did not rule out that a new Russian offensive would come from “Belarus and other territories.” .
As such, Danilov praised the decision of many of its residents who chose to stay in the Ukrainian capital when the war broke out in order to defend the city.
“They expected that there would be panic, that people would run, that there would be nothing to protect Kyiv,” he added, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).
At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.
The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.
Top News4 years ago
Top News4 years ago
Tech4 years ago
