On November 6 We Received a Letter From Argentina in English With Powder

It might sound funny, but last Tuesday an envelope containing white powder came to our editorial office. Around 10 a.m. the editor-in-chief’s office received a message, which at first sight did not differ from dozens of similar letters coming to the newspaper every day. After a more thorough examination of the letter the work schedule was almost halted, and many newspaper employees were disconcerted for some time. A note in English slipped out of the envelope reading, “The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine agreed to meet the US request to make the country’s airspace available, if necessary, for American military transport aircraft, Interfax Ukraine reported.” Following the note, the notorious white powder poured out.

It is understandable why it is mass media that become addressees of danger. The attackers count on publicity. In total, on last Tuesday fourteen reports on discovery of white powder came to the Ministry of Emergency Management operation group. Particularly, such cases happened to Molod Ukrayiny [Youth of Ukraine], Narodna Armiya [People’s Army], and Fakty i Kommentarii [Facts and Comments] newspapers as well as the Ministry of Ecology (in the last two cases the letters were also from Argentina). Honestly, we hesitated about what to do, since The Day has resisted provoking panic in the past. But then we decided that if it came to experimenting on ourselves, we should share experience with our readers.

Writing or reading about biological terrorist practical jokes (sometimes ending with people’s death) and being their victims and feeling that a half-virtual threat had become a reality, are totally different things. The instinct of self-preservation appears to dominate over the experts’ logical explanations that none of the 200 cases of discovering white powder in Ukraine have given positive results for anthrax tests. Especially taking into consideration colleagues’ black humor: there you are, all that English language, with your newspaper on the Internet, and Argentina. The Ministry of Emergency Situations reacted quite rapidly. Within twenty minutes after our phone call an operation group arrived on the scene led by head of the Emergency Forecasting Service Yury KOLESNYCHENKO. The treacherous envelope was sent for examination with all the necessary precautions. “The final conclusion will be made after we get results from the lab. If positive, we’ll have to evacuate everybody from this office and nearby buildings,” Mr. Kolesnychenko told The Day. Our journalists choose not to wait idly for evacuation or an all clear signal and went back to work. Our first call was to the Minister of Emergencies.

“Special teams have been created in all Ukraine’s regions. In case of discovering such letters one should immediately call them (the telephone numbers of Central and Kyiv offices are 247-3015 and 430-5010 — Authors). The Ministry of Emergency Management together with those of Internal Affairs, Health Care, and Agrarian Policies Ministries, Security Service of Ukraine and others hold meetings every Tuesday developing measures to react to and prevent such incidents. Luckily, lately the mail terrorists’ criminal activity after its peak on October 22 has begun to decline.

“There have been no cases of real threat from white powder registered in Ukraine. We treat every case most seriously,” the Emergency Minister Vasyl DURDYNETS assured us.

However, the scale and character of the sick-joke terrorism in our country crossed the boundaries of childhood pranks long ago. According to Mr. Durdynets, 89 unconfirmed cases of anthrax were registered in Kyiv alone as of last Tuesday. In the provinces such feigned terrorism activity is slightly lower: 24 cases in Lviv, 19 in the Crimea, and 10 in Poltava oblast.

In 162 cases the alleged anthrax was sent by mail. “No wonder,” says Mr. Kolesnychenko. “In Ukraine sending loose goods: starch, tea, coffee, etc., by mail is common practice.” The letter received by The Day on November 5 can hardly be explained by such a tradition. More likely, it was just another confirmation that anthrax CAN be distributed by mail; terrorism CAN reach our territory and penetrate our lives, virtual as it is. And the question is what kind of reaction it will arouse: fear, panic, or understanding that people sending starch or washing powder in the envelopes are not just harmless practical jokers. It is already clear that the efforts by state institutions (Ukrposhta’s increased vigilance, preparing additional volumes of anthrax vaccine by the Ministry of Health Care, the Ministry of Emergencies’ alertness) are not enough to make our lives safe. Terrorism has penetrated our lives, and now it is up to us whether it becomes a significant part of our daily routine.

Moreover, those preparing for such practical jokes might do well to consider the criminal responsibility such pranks entail. As Mr. Durdynets told The Day, “None of them ends with mere ascertaining. There have already been ten suits filed against the white powder distributors.” It is also worth mentioning that President Kuchma recently sent a bill to Verkhovna Rada, according to which the penalty for such jokes will be increased.

P.S.

As promised, on November 9 deputy chief of the emergencies forecasting service in the Emergencies Ministry Yury Kolesnychenko gave The Day the final results of the lab test of what was in the letter our newspaper received from Argentina on Tuesday. As previously reported, “no biologically hazardous bacteria, including anthrax agents, were found in the white powder... Unfortunately, they failed to establish the true nature of the powder. In all probability, this is cement, alabaster, starch, or tooth powder,” Mr. Kolesnychenko noted.

But in general, to quote Minister for Emergencies Vasyl Durdynets, “these somewhat low-key bioterrorist operations have reached a new high in the past few days.” According to the ministry’s press service, on Friday alone they recorded, throughout Ukraine, 18 instances of unknown powder being found in correspondence and in public places, which was tested and proved to have nothing to do with anthrax.

Simultaneously an anthrax outbreak in the village of Kateshyne, Tomakivka district, Dnipropetrovsk oblast, could have far graver consequences than the hoaxes of those wishing to play terrorist. There, a cow suspected of having contracted this disease was sent to a veterinary doctor and four people are under medical observation. As The Day was told at the ministry’s press service, “Tests showed that none of them can be suspected of having anthrax... We are now taking every measure to exclude even the possibility of this disease.”