PARIS, February 24. /TASS/. The Russian Consulate General in Marseille said, following an attack with incendiary devices, that it will fully resume work from Tuesday.
"The measures have been completed. The cordon has been removed. The Consulate General will start working as usual tomorrow," a consulate representative told TASS.
Russia’s Consulate General told TASS earlier that unidentified individuals had thrown three objects onto the premises of the diplomatic mission, and two of them exploded. According to preliminary information, the attack caused no casualties or damage to the consulate building.
Police sealed off the area around the consulate after the attack, while bomb engineers checked the area and subsequently conducted controlled detonations of suspicious objects. Marseille prosecutors opened an investigation into damage "inflicted by explosive or incendiary devices."
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS that the explosions "bear all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack." The Foreign Ministry demands that France conduct a swift and comprehensive investigation and make steps to bolster the security of Russian diplomatic missions.
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service announced on February 19 that Ukraine was considering the option of carrying out terrorist attacks against Russian diplomatic missions across Europe, particularly in Germany, the Baltic states and Scandinavia. According to the agency, the Ukrainians could also pick Slovakia or Hungary for such efforts, as that would additionally benefit Kiev by discrediting the EU countries that hold different views on the conflict in Ukraine.