(Kyiv) Ukraine said on Friday that it had received parcels containing “animal eyes” at several of its diplomatic representations in Europe, denouncing a “planned campaign of terror” by Moscow, two days after a letter bomb had injured one of its employees in Madrid.
“Bloody packages arrived at embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy, Austria, the consulates general in Naples and Krakow, and the consulate in Brno,” a statement said on Facebook spokesman for Ukrainian diplomacy Oleg Nikolenko.
“The packages contained animal eyes,” he said. Before adding, without giving further details: “The packaging itself was soaked in a specific color liquid and had a similar smell”.
“We have reason to believe that a well-planned campaign of terror and intimidation of Ukrainian embassies and consulates is underway,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba said in the statement on Friday.
“These attempts [d’intimidation] are useless,” he said, targeting Russia, which has suffered several humiliating defeats on the military ground in recent weeks in Ukraine.
PHOTO ATTILA KISBENEDEK, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A police car in front of the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest, Hungary
Kyiv said in the statement “cooperate with law enforcement agencies of foreign countries to investigate all cases of threats, identify those involved and bring them to justice”.
The Spanish Interior Ministry has confirmed that the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid received a package containing an animal eye.
“The envelope received this afternoon at the Ukrainian Embassy did not contain any mechanism, explosive or explosive substance,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Inside we found the crushed eye of an animal,” he said.
According to a Spanish police source, “a more in-depth analysis” of the package was underway.
The announcement of the receipt of suspicious packages comes two days after a letter bomb exploded at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, “slightly” injuring an employee who was handling it, according to the Spanish national police.
In the Czech Republic, police tweeted that the package sent to the Ukrainian consulate in Brno contained “animal tissue” and that further analyzes would be carried out.
In Warsaw, the police said that the Ukrainian embassy had received a package on Thursday, but without specifying the contents.
“We quickly ruled out any danger,” police spokesman Sylwester Marczak told AFP.
In The Hague (Netherlands), an AFP journalist saw a police car parked near the Ukrainian embassy just before 7:30 a.m. (Eastern time), before she quickly leaves the scene.
An embassy employee welcoming Ukrainian citizens, who are waiting for their appointment in a container set up as a waiting room in front of the building, declined to comment.