Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba issued an “urgent instruction” to increase security at all Ukrainian embassies abroad after an explosion occurred at the country’s embassy in Madrid.

One employee was injured in the incident Wednesday, the Spanish Interior Ministry said. The victim was rushed to a hospital where he was receiving treatment. Authorities launched an investigation into the explosion.

Police said that the employee was handling an envelope when the explosion took place. However, it is not known if the blast occurred when the worker tried to open an envelope, or simply move it, CNN reported. 

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Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Kuleba, described the staffer’s position as “commandant.” 

Who is Dmytro Kuleba?

Dmytro Kuleba was born on April 19, 1981 in Ukraine’s eastern city of Sumy. He graduated with honors with a degree in International Law from the Institute of International Relations of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 2003. He then received a Candidate of Sciences degree (equivalent to PhD) in Law in 2006.

He has served in Ukraine’s diplomatic service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2003. In 2013, he abandoned public service and chaired the UART Foundation for Cultural Diplomacy. He took active part in the Euromaidan protests in 2013–2014.

In 2016, Kuleba was appointed Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe. From August 2019 to March 2020, he was Deputy Prime Minister on matters of European relations.

Since March 2020, he has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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On May 10, 2022, Kuleba said that “In the first months” of the Russian invasion of Ukraine “the victory for us looked like withdrawal of Russian forces to the positions they occupied before February 24 and payment for inflicted damage. Now if we are strong enough on the military front and we win the battle for Donbas, which will be crucial for the following dynamics of the war, of course the victory for us in this war will be the liberation of the rest of our territories,” including Donbas and Crimea.

The 41-year-old is one of the youngest senior-diplomats in Ukraine’s history.

His wife Yevhenia was number 1 on the party list for the Kyiv City Council of the party Servant of the People in the 2020 Kyiv local election.