Action against Ukraine aid Spanish pensioner sends letter bombs - 18 years in prison

An elderly man in Spain wanted to put an end to military aid for Ukraine. He used terrorist means to do so, which have now landed him in prison for a long time.

A pensioner has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in Spain for sending several letter bombs. The 76-year-old Spaniard had sent the letter bombs to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the embassies of the USA and Ukraine, among others.

The man was found guilty of terrorism and the manufacture and use of explosive devices for terrorist purposes, the State Court in Madrid announced. According to the judges, he had acted with the aim of "stirring up Spanish society and exerting pressure on the governments of Spain and the United States (...) to stop supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia", the statement said.

The pensioner acted alone

The series of letter bombs caused a stir in Spain in November 2022. On November 30, 2022, an employee of the security service of the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was slightly injured in the right hand when opening a letter. Other shipments containing explosives were intercepted at the Spanish Ministry of Defense, at a Spanish military base and at an arms company that manufactures grenade launchers for delivery to Ukraine. No one was killed by the letter bombs.

The suspect was arrested two months later in Miranda de Ebro, around 300 kilometers north of Madrid. According to the findings of the judiciary, he did not belong to a terrorist gang or organized group, but acted alone. As the media reported at the time, citing the police, the six packages contained home-made mechanisms with a relatively small amount of pyrotechnic material and small metal balls.