Spanish police cordon off Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid

ISTANBUL

Spanish police on Friday cordoned off the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid after delivery of a blood-soaked package, according to local broadcasters.

The package arrived two days after the embassy received an envelope containing explosives, slightly injuring a staffer.

Ukraine's embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy, and Austria, as well as its consulates-general in Naples and Krakow, and its consulate in Brno have also received bloody packages, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the packages contained animal eyes.

The ministry said the entrance to the ambassador's residence in the Vatican was also vandalized, while the embassy in Kazakhstan received a bomb threat, though this "was later not confirmed."

Ukraine's embassy in the US also received "a letter with a photocopy of a critical article about Ukraine, but, like most other envelopes, this letter arrived simultaneously with others from the territory of one European country," it continued.

"We have reasons to believe that a well-planned campaign of terror and intimidation against Ukrainian embassies and consulates is taking place. Unable to stop Ukraine on the diplomatic front, someone is trying to intimidate us. However, I can immediately say that these attempts are useless. We will continue to work effectively for the victory of Ukraine," said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Kuleba issued instructions to beef up security for all Ukrainian diplomatic missions.

The ministry also called on foreign governments to provide Ukrainian diplomatic missions abroad with the highest level of protection.

Over the last few days, suspicious letters and packages have been addressed to high-profile targets.

In Spain, letter bombs addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the Ukrainian Embassy, arms company Instalaza, the Torrejon Air Base, the EU Satellite Center, the Defense Ministry, and the US Embassy. All had "similar characteristics," with brown envelopes, and were sent from inside Spain, authorities said as investigations into the matter continue.