Ukraine says that a number of its European embassies have received bloody packages containing animal eyes, including its embassy in Madrid, which received a letter bomb earlier this week.
Spanish police cordoned off the Ukrainian Embassy on Friday and were searching the area with sniffer dogs.
The packages, soaked in a liquid with a distinctive colour and smell, have also been sent to embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia and Italy, to general consulates in Naples and Krak w, and the consulate in Brno in the Czech Republic, said Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko.
Nikolenko said in a statement on Facebook that the foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, ordered all embassies and consulates to be placed under heightened security.
Ukrainian officials also said the entrance of the Ukrainian ambassador's residence in the Vatican was vandalised and that a false bomb threat was received regarding its embassy in Kazakhstan.
The bloody missives followed the reception of six letter bombs sent in the past week to addresses in Spain, including the US embassy in Madrid, Prime Minister Pedro S nchez and the US embassy in Madrid, prompting Spain to step up security.
A Madrid embassy employee was injured after opening a package addressed to Ukraine's ambassador to Spain on Tuesday. The employee opened the package, which was received by normal mail, in the embassy garden because it contained a small box.
Despite not holding the box at the time of the explosion, the commandant hurt his hands and received a concussion. Spanish police said a similar package was sent to a Spanish arms company that makes rocket launchers that Spain has donated to Kyiv, and that they believed the two incidents were linked.