The investigation suspects the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (formerly the Main Intelligence Directorate, GRU) in organizing the mailing of "mail bombs" in Spain in November-December last year. This is stated in the material of The New York Times.
The American publication refers to US officials close to the investigation who wished to speak on condition of anonymity. According to them, it was possible to trace the bomb sent thanks to the coordinated actions of the Spanish police, American and British intelligence. According to the received data, the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks are members of the far-right "Russian Imperial Movement", which is based in St. Petersburg, but "whose agents operate throughout Europe", connected to the GRU. The Spanish police discovered them because of their connection with local far-right movements.
According to the investigation, the officers of military unit 29155 at the GRU specialist training center in the east of Moscow were engaged in the actions of the perpetrators. Previously, the special services of European countries accused employees of this unit in the explosions of ammunition warehouses in the Czech Republic in 2014, the attempt on the arms dealer Omelyan Gebrev in Bulgaria in 2015, the coup attempt in Montenegro in 2016 and the poisoning of Skripal in Great Britain in 2018. Russia denies involvement in these crimes.
Persons close to the Spanish investigation claim that the purpose of the "mail bomb" mailings was to warn European politicians: Russia may carry out terrorist attacks in the capitals of NATO member states that provide military aid to Ukraine. It is no coincidence that one of the bombs was sent to the office of the Spanish company Instalaza, which, in particular, produces grenade launchers supplied to the Ukrainian army.
One source told The New York Times that Russian President Vladimir Putin "gave his military intelligence broad latitude to develop and conduct covert operations in Europe," but it is unclear to what extent he was personally involved in the letter bombing operation.
Russian officials have not yet commented on the material of the American publication. A spokeswoman for the Spanish embassy in Washington declined to comment, citing an investigation.
At the end of last year, unknown persons sent parcels with explosive devices to the addresses of Spanish government institutions and a number of strategically protected objects. "Mail bombs" were addressed, in particular, to the offices of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the country's Ministry of Defense, the American and Ukrainian diplomatic missions, and the satellite center of the air base in Torrejon de Ardos near Madrid. Most of the bombs were defused - only the package that was sent to the ambassador of Ukraine, Serhiy Pogoreltsev, exploded. During its disclosure, an employee of the security service of the Ukrainian embassy was injured. Later, several diplomatic institutions of Ukraine abroad received bloody packages containing the eyes of killed animals. According to Kyiv, such parcels arrived at embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy and the Czech Republic.
"Russian Imperial Movement" (RID) is an ultra-right organization created at the beginning of the 2000s in St. Petersburg by Stanislav Vorobyov, a former employee of the regional prosecutor's office and a member of the political council of the "Russian" association. The Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University describes RID as "white supremacist, monarchist, ultra-nationalist, pro-Russian Orthodox, and anti-Semitic." In 2020, the authorities of the USA, and then of Canada, recognized the "Russian Imperial Movement" as a "terrorist organization", in addition, it fell under the sanctions of the European Union.
According to Western special services, RID has close ties with the far-right in Europe and the United States. Mykola Trushchalov, an employee of the St. Petersburg Tactical and Fire Training Center "Partizan", is engaged in the movement's activities abroad.