It has been a sudden flare-up of "letter terrorism" in Spain. In two days, high-ranking officials and foreign diplomatic institutions received several dangerous parcels with a flammable substance. They all share one trait - they are involved in helping Ukraine in the fight against the Russian aggressor.

If it were an attempt to influence the government in Madrid and cut the arms supply from Spain to Ukraine, it may backfire.

Despite Kyiv's request, Madrid has recently refused to hand over large-caliber artillery to the war in Ukraine.

An "epidemic" of letter bombs can tip the scales for supplying this weaponry.

Explosive spam

The Embassy of Ukraine to Spain received a cardboard parcel on November 30 sent by regular mail for the Ambassador of Ukraine, Serhii Pohoreltsev, without any information about the sender. It was suspicious.

Inside the parcel was a box. Sensing danger, an embassy worker brought it outside. He tried to open it, and it exploded in his hands.

Since he was cautious, it let him avoid significant injuries. His hand suffered light injuries, but he had to go to the hospital.

The Spanish authorities were serious about the situation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, announced the attack on the diplomatic institution and instructed to strengthen security in all embassies of Ukraine. It turned out that the main danger concerns Spain, not Ukraine.

On the same day, Instalaza in Zaragoza received a similar parcel. This is one of the Spanish companies that produces weapons that the Spanish government sends to Ukraine, such as C90 anti-tank grenade launchers.

The Torrejón de Ardoz airfield received another parcel with similar characteristics. It provides Ukraine with intelligence within military aid the EU is giving to Kyiv amid the Russian aggression. 

Defence Minister Robles also received a "letter bomb," as did Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

On Thursday, the US Embassy confirmed that a suspicious package had been received there. This is the country that provides the most military aid to Ukraine.

All institutions marked the packages as suspicious, so there were no casualties.

Versions of the investigation

The law enforcement services of Spain have not yet officially released their version of the possible culprits. The Embassy of Ukraine also keeps silent. Spanish sources say that the authorities may recognise it as an act of terrorism.

A Reuters source close to the investigation said that since the devices were homemade, "they were not something anyone could make." Investigators were now seeking to trace their contents to their origin.

One of the diplomatic interlocutors of "European Pravda" did not rule out that extreme left-wing political forces against providing military assistance to Ukraine are involved in "letter terrorism." In Spain, leftists are traditionally strong and even represented in power: the Podemos party, for example, is the junior partner in the coalition government. It did not back the decision to hand over weapons to Ukraine from the very beginning. This political force was against sending Spanish ships to the Black Sea and Bulgaria to support NATO even before the war.

However, there are even more toxic left parties in the country.

The Communist Party of Spain, in particular, is systematically against aid for Ukraine and sanctions against the Russian Federation. The communists even consider Crimea "Russian," calling the illegal annexation "a manifestation of the will of the majority of the Crimean population." Moreover, the authorities in Ukraine are nothing but a "regime."

Russia, however, hastened to distance itself from the "letter bombs."

It is up to the Spanish police to check all the versions and find the culprit, but for now, we can say with certainty: all the targets share one trait. They are not supposed to be involved in assisting Ukraine militarily when it is resisting Russian aggression. Therefore, it is naturally assumed that the attacks are aimed at stopping the supply of weapons from Spain to Ukraine.

However, their effect may be the opposite.

"European Pravda" is aware of the tough dialogue between Kyiv and Madrid regarding the supply of large-caliber, "155th" artillery to Ukraine.

Spain, one of the few manufacturers of such artillery in Europe, has so far refused to hand it over to Ukraine.

The explosion in the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, as well as the explosives sent to members of the Spanish government, may convince the Spanish society, and above all, the Spanish politicians, that it is time to get rid of the block and send arms to Ukraine especially when they can prove that the attacker has a great liking for Russia or is connected with it.

We can already witness the first positive signals about Madrid's readiness to take such steps. On Thursday, the Minister of Defence of Spain, Margarita Robles, who is on her visit to Odesa, emphasised that no terrorist attacks could stop Spain from backing Ukraine.

An understanding of the global nature of the Russian threat appears even in states far from the borders of the Russian Federation.

Written by Yurii Onyshchenko, Sergiy Sydorenko,

"European Pravda"