Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican, Andriy Yurash, said on Dec. 2 that the entrance to his home in Rome had been smeared by unknown people with what he believed to be animal feces.
"The door to the apartment and the stairs and walls in the entryway were smeared with a dirty substance with an unpleasant smell," he told the Associated Press.
Yurash added that his wife and son were not at home at the time, and the police were called.
"It is hard to explain completely why and what is the reason for this terrible message, but it is no doubt a systematic trend, a systematic attack on Ukrainian missions around Europe," he said.
Yurash referred to blood-stained parcels that were earlier received by the Ukrainian Embassy in Spain, as well as Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy, and Austria, the consulates general in Naples and Krakow, and the consulate in Brno.
Oleh Nikolenko, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Dec. 2 that Ukraine had a reason to believe that "it is a well-planned campaign of terror and intimidation" of the country's embassies and consulates.
"Not being able to stop Ukraine on the diplomatic front, they are trying to scare us," he said.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has ordered an increase in security measures at all Ukrainian embassies and consulates as the threats are being investigated.
Previously, envelopes with explosive devices were sent to the Ukrainian and U.S. embassies in Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles.
Similar packages were also delivered to the Torrejon de Ardoz air base in Madrid, which provides intelligence information to Ukraine's Armed Forces, and the headquarters of Spanish weapons manufacturer Instalaza, which produces rocket launchers supplied to Ukraine.
One of the Ukrainian embassy's employees received minor injuries while inspecting the bomb, according to Nikolenko.
Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has blamed Russia for the letter bomb attacks in Spain.
