Three explosive craft manufacturing devices were launched on Monday, February 24, around 8 am on the facade of the Russian Consulate General in Marseille, without injury, learned the France-Presse (AFP) agency (AFP). The facts occurred on the third anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.
Two on the three machines exploded, according to this source, while the perimeter surrounding the consulate, located in the 8e City district, was completely completed by the police, according to AFP's findings. Marseille firefighters told AFP that they had dispatched on the spot “Thirty elements”. On the spot, AFP journalists have notably heard a detonation noise caused by a deminous robot.
At the end of the morning on Monday, this information had not yet been confirmed by the Bouches-du-Rhône police prefecture or the Marseille prosecutor's office. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately denounced a “Terrorist attack”while the conflict in Ukraine between Monday in its fourth year.
A “condemned” attack by France
“The explosions that have occurred in the territory of the Russian Consulate General in Marseille present all the signs of a terrorist attack. We demand that the host country quickly take full investigation measures, as well as measures to strengthen the security of establishments from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ”said Russian Ministry of Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency.
For its part, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “Condemned any damage to the security of diplomatic holds”. “The inviolability, the protection and integrity of the diplomatic and consular holdings, as well as their staff, are fundamental principles of international law”said the Quai d'Orsay.
Source: Lemonde