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Explosion at Russian consulate in France, Moscow demands investigation
The Russian foreign ministry said the incident had the hallmarks of a "terrorist attack" and demanded a thorough investigation from French authorities.
An explosion took place at the Russian consulate in the French city of Marseille on Monday, the consul general of Russia in the city confirmed.
According to a report by Russian news outlet RBC, the incident took place when two projectiles were thrown at the building. RBC quoted Russia's consul general in Marseille, Stanislav Oranskiy, in the report.
French media had earlier reported that a blast was heard near the Russian consulate in the southern port city and firemen were at the site. The incident took place on the third anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian foreign ministry said the incident had the hallmarks of a "terrorist attack" and demanded a thorough investigation from French authorities.
As per reports, unidentified attackers threw two Molotov cocktails inside the consulate. A stolen car was also found near the scene.
No casualties have been reported so far. Municipal police had cordoned off the area after the explosion.
The Kremlin reacted to the incident, saying the foreign ministry was doing everything to draw France's attention to the need for security measures, Reuters reported.
Attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul
The explosion in Marseille reignited the memories of the attack on the Russian embassy in Afghanistan more than two years ago. At least six people were killed in a suicide bombing near the entrance of the Russian embassy in Kabul in September 2022. The attack killed two embassy employees as well as 4 locals, who had gathered to get their visas to travel to Russia.
The ISIL (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack on the day of the attack.
An ISIL fighter “blew up his suicide vest in a gathering attended by Russian employees” near the embassy, the group said in a statement via Telegram channels.
It was said to be the first attack on a foreign diplomatic mission in Kabul since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
The Kremlin had condemned the attack as absolutely unacceptable and the United Nations expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the attack. The ruling Taliban had also vowed serious steps towards securing embassies operating in the country.
“[The government] has a close relationship with Russia; we will never let such negative actions of enemies have a negative impact on the relationship,” Taliban spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi was quoted by Al Jazeera at the time.
The current explosion in Marseille has also been called a terror attack by the Russian foreign ministry but nobody has taken responsibility for it yet.
