Anthrax scares hit Ukraine (10/28/01)

Anthrax scares hit Ukraine

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - A series of anthrax scares, including 38 separate incidents of letters containing powder-like substances sent through the Ukrainian postal system, have caused apprehension and a heightened state of security within the country. Thus far, the bacterial spores that spread the deadly disease have not been found in the country.

The first of the alerts - which to some extent are the result of extreme caution on the part of law enforcement officials in Ukraine - occurred on October 16 when a worker at a construction site near the village of Osokorky, located just outside of Kyiv, discovered 40 glass ampules containing a white powdery substance. That was followed a day later by the appearance of a letter containing a white powder at the customs post in the city of Hlukhiv, located near the Russian border in the Sumy Oblast. As a result, three customs officials of the post who had come in contact with the letter were quarantined for a week.

State Customs Service Director Yurii Solovkov said his agency has now implemented procedures in which all packages and letters entering Ukraine go through a screening process, including X-raying.

The biggest problems for Ukrainian officials, however, involve letters sent through the postal system found to contain powdery like substances. When discovered, they have set-off a system of vigilance that has caused delays, stress and additional expenses.

"For the most part, these are pranksters," said Volodymyr Moroz, first assistant director of UkrPost, Ukraine's postal service, during a press conference on October 24.

Mr. Moroz underscored that sending illegal or dangerous substances or simply using the postal service to scare people are criminal offenses punishable by jail terms.

He noted that the 38 pieces of correspondence have come from 16 various post office zones, including four from Kyiv and eight from abroad.

The first three letters that underwent scrutiny, came from the United States, explained Mr. Moroz. After initial testing, officials determined that the envelopes merely contained coffee grounds. More extensive testing is being done on those, as well as the other 35 letters, to exclude any bacteriological contamination other than anthrax.

Although postal workers found marijuana in one correspondence, for the most the letters that have undergone testing have been found to contain innocuous powders, either flours, laundry detergents or salt. Mr. Moroz called them hoaxes and scare tactics being employed by deranged elements for their own amusement.

As an example he cited one envelope containing a white substance that was addressed to: "Osama Bin Laden, Cave No. 5, Mount Hoverlia, Lviv Oblast. The return address on another one read simply: "Terrorist," with a notation on the envelope reading "anthrax enclosed."

Mr. Moroz also explained that a disproportionate number of the letters were either from university student dormitories or on the way there. However, an elementary school and a national magazine also have been targeted.

Nor have government officials remained beyond the reach of the hoaxsters. On October 22 an unusual powder was detected in a letter that had arrived at the Verkhovna Rada postal center. It was sent to Ukraine's Sanitation and Epidemiology Center for testing, where no traces of the anthrax bacterium was found, according to First Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Viktor Medvedchuk, who announced the finding the following day before the beginning of the Parliament's daily session.

That same day Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs received an envelope addressed to Minister Anatolii Zlenko, which also contained a powdery substance. That, too, proved to be a hoax.

Hoax or not, the testing and the extreme safety precautions required to follow-up on anthrax scares have placed an extra burden on the government. Mr. Moroz noted that the additional vigilance involves extra time, extra care and heightened stress on the part of postal workers, who now wear surgical gloves and masks while handling or sorting mail.

The postal official also cited the additional costs associated with testing of suspect mail, as well as with the work of special security teams of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Labor Division of the postal service.

Mr. Moroz said that, while investigations of the Security Service regarding the various incidents are ongoing and therefore confidential, he has no reason to believe that anyone has been detained in connection with them.

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