A Spanish arms company received an envelope similar to the one sent to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid on Wednesday that exploded, slightly injuring one person, police sources said.
The national police were called to the company Instalaza, in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon region (northeast of Spain), and in a controlled manner the artifact contained in the envelope exploded, said national and local police sources, quoted by various Spanish media.
According to the same sources, further analysis by explosives experts will be needed to determine exactly what was inside the envelope.
Founded in 1943, Instalaza is a company that produces military equipment such as missile launchers, hand grenades or night vision goggles.
According to the ABC newspaper, the Instalaza company manufactured equipment that the Spanish government sent to Ukraine shortly after the start of the Russian attack on February 24 in support of the Ukrainian army.
Intercepted in the weapons company Instalaza de #Zaragoza one roughly similar to what has been explored today in Madrid https://t.co/BY10dOcBsI
– Herald of Aragon (@heraldoes) November 30, 2022
Loose #TEDAX explode, in a controlled manner, #about received the suspect in the arms factory #to installin the Zaragoza district of #Tenerias
It was similar to the one studied in the Embajada de #Ukraine
Here you can hear the moment of explosion pic.twitter.com/oBA7Mqc68Q
– Aragon Noticias (@AragonNoticias_) November 30, 2022
In March, the Spanish government announced the first shipments of weapons to Ukraine, including 1,370 grenade launchers and 700,000 cartridges for rifles and machine guns, as well as light machine guns.
A man was seriously injured at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid today, according to the National Police of Spain, by the explosion of an object contained in an envelope.
Police sources revealed that the injured man is an embassy worker who was handling the envelope in the gardens of the diplomatic mission when the explosion happened.
Sources quoted by the EFE news agency explain that the envelope arrived in the mail sent to the embassy, was addressed to Ambassador Serhii Pohoreltsev and had not yet passed through a ‘scanner’ system to which correspondence is subject.
Other police sources quoted by the Europa news agency added that the envelope, with no return address, contained “elements of pyrotechnics”.
Ambassador Serhii Pohoreltsev told the “Ukrainian media” that an embassy official suspected the contents of the envelope, so the head of security went into the yard to inspect it before it passed through the usual “scanner.”
Upon hearing a “click,” the security chief released the envelope, which then exploded, the ambassador said.
Spanish judicial authorities are assessing this case at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid as a possible crime of terrorism and have decided to strengthen security at the diplomatic mission, official sources said.
In a social media publication quoted by international bodies, a spokesman for Ukrainian diplomacy revealed that Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba “called on his Spanish counterpart to take urgent measures to investigate the attack on the mission “. Ukrainian diplomacy” in Madrid.
Kiev’s diplomacy added that instructions had been issued to urgently tighten security at all Ukrainian embassies abroad.
Ukraine was attacked militarily by Russia on February 24 this year, an offensive that is still ongoing and has been widely condemned by the international community.
Source: DN
