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.”
