Initial tests found no chemical, biological or radioactive substances, but further tests are underway.
The package was delivered on Wednesday to a military police facility in Nowa Dęba, a town in Poland’s southeastern Podkarpackie region.
It contained a card bearing the words "Pozdrawiam Złota" (Regards, Złota). No visible powder was found inside the envelope.
Two soldiers and a civilian employee who were near the package reported feeling unwell after it was opened. They experienced irritation to the skin and respiratory tract and were taken to hospital. All three were later discharged.
Emergency services and sanitary authorities were called to the scene. The military police said initial tests had ruled out chemical, biological and radiological substances.
Investigation continues
Minister Coordinator of Special Services Tomasz Siemoniak said the incident was being treated seriously and that laboratory tests were continuing.
“It needs to be precisely established in a laboratory whether there was any harmful substance present,” Siemoniak said.
He said the military police, working with other services, would provide further information as the investigation progresses.
The Lublin District Prosecutor’s Office is investigating where the package came from and who sent it. Investigators are also examining whether the symptoms reported by the three people were linked to the package.
Prosecutor Marcin Kozak, a spokesman for the Lublin District Prosecutor’s Office, said that no possibility could currently be ruled out.
The card found inside the package will undergo further forensic tests, including fingerprint and DNA analysis. Biological samples will also be collected.
Expert: absence of traces does not rule out substance
Terrorism expert Andrzej Mroczek said that it was too early to conclude that the package had been harmless.
“The fact that preliminary tests did not detect a dangerous substance does not mean that there was no such substance there. It could simply have been released without leaving any traces,” he said.
Mroczek, deputy director of the Centre for Terrorism Research at Civitas University in Warsaw, said authorities should be prepared for different forms of provocation given the current geopolitical situation.
He said such incidents can be designed primarily to create fear and a psychological effect. However, he cautioned against assuming that Russian services were necessarily behind the incident, saying similar acts could also have personal motives or other origins.
Possible copycat effect
Mroczek also warned that incidents of this kind can inspire similar acts, a phenomenon known as the copycat effect.
He referred to cases involving envelopes containing white powder that were sent in the United States after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The expert said public awareness was an important part of preventing such incidents. People who receive unexpected or suspicious packages should exercise caution and contact the police if they believe there may be a threat.
The investigation in Nowa Dęba is continuing. Authorities have not yet established what caused the reported symptoms or identified the sender of the package.