Incident in Marseille: Researchers admit attack on Russian consulate

On Monday, several explosive devices landed in the garden of the Russian General Consulate in Marseille. Investigators have now tracked down the perpetrators. The two employees of a renowned research institute also explain their motive.

Two French researchers have confessed to an attack on the Russian Consulate General in Marseille with homemade explosive devices. They are due to appear in court tomorrow, Thursday, in a fast-track trial, the public prosecutor's office in the southern French port city announced.

The two Frenchmen had said they had thrown three plastic bottles containing nitrogen and other chemicals into the consulate's garden. Two of them exploded without causing any damage. The engineer and the chemist, who belong to the renowned French research center CNRS, had said that their attack on Monday was linked to the war in Ukraine.

According to a local newspaper report, they had previously taken part in a solidarity demonstration on the third anniversary of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Around 33,000 people work for the national research center CNRS across the country.

The Russian Foreign Ministry initially spoke of a "terrorist attack" and called for "comprehensive investigations". The French Foreign Ministry condemned the "violation of the security of diplomatic missions".