A fire had to be extinguished, and six men were injured after an explosion at a Rheinmetall ammunition factory in Spain. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
If it turns out that this is Russia, this is is going to be a strike against defense infrastructure in Europe. Like, there are limited protections for cables and pipelines in international waters in general, and those are out of scope under NATO Article 6, but this is right on actual Spanish soil.
Spain is also a NATO country. As this is would be an armed attack on their territory, I believe that this would constitute grounds for invocation of NATO Article 5 if they want to do so.
Czechia had a previous pair of explosions at a munitions depot ten years back that was Russia (though as I recall, it was accidental, as it had been expected that the explosion would occur in Bulgaria…not that that makes it a lot better). This is the first attack against defense infrastructure since the full-scale war kicked off, though.
If it turns out that this is Russia, this is is going to be a strike against defense infrastructure in Europe. Like, there are limited protections for cables and pipelines in international waters in general, and those are out of scope under NATO Article 6, but this is right on actual Spanish soil.
Spain is also a NATO country. As this is would be an armed attack on their territory, I believe that this would constitute grounds for invocation of NATO Article 5 if they want to do so.
Czechia had a previous pair of explosions at a munitions depot ten years back that was Russia (though as I recall, it was accidental, as it had been expected that the explosion would occur in Bulgaria…not that that makes it a lot better). This is the first attack against defense infrastructure since the full-scale war kicked off, though.