Explosion occurs at Russian consulate in Marseille
French firefighters and rescue forces near the entrance of the Russian Consulate in Marseille, France, on Monday.
An explosion occurred Monday morning inside the premises of the Russian Consulate General in Marseille, southern France, said Stanislav Oransky, the Russian consul general in Marseille.
Speaking to a local newspaper, Oransky said that the "homemade" explosive device was thrown in at around 8 am local time (0700 GMT).
French public television TF1 quoted the police as saying that at least three plastic soda bottles were thrown into the consulate's garden. Two of them exploded, causing no injuries.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the explosion had "all the signs of a terrorist attack," the TASS news agency reported.
"We demand that the host country take immediate, thorough action to investigate the incident, as well as measures to improve the security of Russia's foreign facilities," she added.
On its social media platform X, the City of Marseille has "strongly" condemned the act of violence.
