A message from Putin? Letter bombs sent to Spain's President and Ukraine embassy

A wave of attacks with explosives hidden in letters and packages shook Spain on December 1, 2022. The destinations of the bombs makes it clear that it is a campaign in favor of Russia.

The Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and a Zaragoza company that manufactures weapons sent to the Ukrainian side were the first targets. A worker from the Ukrainian embassy was minorly injured and there were no casualties at the weapons factory.

The Torrejón air base (the use of which is shared by Spain with the United States), the Ministry of Defense and the US embassy in Madrid also received packages with explosives. They were neutralized and there were no casualties.

At the Moncloa palace, the residence of the President of Spain, another bomb was sent in a package. It was neutralized.

In total, six bombs were sent out on December 1 in Spain, leaving the country on high alert. The authorities take this threat very seriously and in Madrid there were traffic closures and emergency police operations due to false alarms.

Authorities are investigating who is sending these explosives. And there is some information that serves as a clue to the police, even if the authorities are trying to keep everything hush-hush.

The key is in the letter sent to the Torrejón air base, which managed to be deactivated without being destroyed. With this letter and the remains that remained from the other shipments, a pattern is observed: in all of them the addressee was written with the same handwriting, according to the newspaper El País.

Although at first there was talk of the existence of a mysterious email at the return address, the police immediately denied it. The sender remains for the time being unknown, the Spanish media unanimously affirm, citing sources of the investigation.

Although the Spanish authorities admit that the envelopes sent posed a danger, their content is described by police sources (according to El País and other media) as "pyrotechnic material".

The explosive devices that were sent were very basic (but effective) bombs with gunpowder, shrapnel and a line that, when the envelope is opened and tightened, causes the deflagration. "Homemade devices" is the definition that has been given in the Spanish media.

Sources of the investigation assure, according to the SER chain, that the envelopes were sent from Spain.

The Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, according to the newspaper El País, immediately sent a letter to the governments of the European Union to alert them because these attacks "could be related to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia."

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the targeting is clear: it is a campaign against Ukraine and its allies and in favor of Russia.

The fear that the war in Ukraine breaks into the territory of the European Union with terrorist attacks is unleashed with what happened in Spain.

Precisely, a few days before the attack (specifically on November 23) the European Parliament declared Russia a "terrorist state". A symbolic pronouncement that does not entail institutional reprisals, a matter that concerns each country of the European Union specifically.

From the Ukraine they did not take long to point to Russia as the inspiration for the attacks. Speaking to the newspaper El Mundo, the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev, said: "We know the terrorist methods of the aggressor country."

In the midst of Christmas shopping and celebrations, with the streets packed, Spain is vigilant against the possibility of continued terrorist attacks.