Spain warns EU leaders that letter bombs ‘could be related’ to war in Ukraine

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska on Friday sent a letter to European leaders to warn that the series of letter bombs sent in Spain “could be related” to the war in Ukraine.

In recent days, packages containing explosive material were sent to the Spanish prime minister, defense minister, the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, the EU Satellite Center in Madrid, arms company Instalaza and the US Embassy in Madrid.

The only package that caused any damage was the one sent to the Ukrainian embassy on Wednesday, which exploded and mildly injured a staffer.

Speaking to the press on Friday, Spain’s interior minister said he “needed to inform European institutions and member states that these events could be related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so they can evaluate what to do and just in case similar incidents happen in other countries.”

On Friday, Ukrainian embassies across Europe, including in Madrid, received bloody packages containing animal parts, according to the Ukrainian foreign minister.

Meanwhile, Spanish police continue to investigate who could have been behind the explosive packages, the first being sent on Nov. 24.

On Thursday, the Interior Ministry reported that the explosives were all homemade and sent from within Spain. They all had similar characteristics, right down to the handwriting on the packages.

On Friday, Marlaska told journalists that police hope to be able to provide more information in the coming days.