MOSCOW: Russia’s mercenary firm Wagner Group denied sending the “bloody packages” containing animal eyes, and a spate of letter bombs to Ukrainian embassies and several consulates across Europe.
Responding to the allegation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova sent CNN a single-word comment: “psycho.”
And Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch and head of the Wagner mercenary group, said he had nothing to do with the packages and also said that Wagner Group would “never engage in boorish stupid antics.”
Earlier, Kubela accused Russia of being behind the more than a dozen letters containing explosives or animal parts that were sent to a series of Ukrainian diplomats.
“Think about the madness when some hooligans send bomb letters or other offensive things, what does this have to do with Wagner PMC,” Prigozhin said in a written response to CNN.
Earlier, in Spain, the “bloody packages” was found with a spate of letter bombs, including one that injured a staffer at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid. This incident has raised suspicion about links to Russia while prompting Kyiv to ask for increased security at its overseas offices, The Washington Post reported.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the “bloody packages” a “well-planned” campaign of intimidation and terror.
A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said packages were received at embassies in the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy and Austria, as well as at consulates in Naples and Brno, in the Czech Republic.
Yevhenia Voloshchenko, a Ukrainian official in Rome, said the parcel received at her embassy contained a fish eye. Czech police said the envelope in Brno contained “animal tissue,” adding that it had first been checked for explosives and prompted an evacuation of the immediate surroundings, including a kindergarten. Police said a similar package also arrived at the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague, according to The Washington Post.
Separately, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See said the entrance to his apartment residence in Rome had been vandalized, with the outside stairwell, ceiling and front door smeared with a “dirty substance.” An Italian police spokesman said the substance was faecal matter.
It is unclear whether the letter bombs in Spain have any connection to the other incidents across Europe. The letter bombs were received at a series of high-profile locations, including the office of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, where the letter was disabled in a controlled detonation.
Meanwhile, Russia’s embassy to Spain came out in its defence and said that it has no role in the campaign, denouncing any threat or terrorist act against a diplomatic mission as “totally condemnable.” (ANI)