20 May 2022
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The recently issued Ukrainian stamps featuring a provocative image of a soldier making a gesture at a Russian warship have proved hugely popular, with customers queuing outside the postal headquarters in Kyiv in order to buy the stamp.
As reported here, Ukrposhta, the Ukraine postal service ran a competition to find a stamp design to sum up the country’s defiance in the face of the Russian invasion.
The winning piece of artwork, showing a soldier making a rude gesture at the Russian warship Moskva, took on added meaning following the attack and eventual sinking of the ship.
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To coincide with the stamp’s launch, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posed with the stamps, his social media post being shared by thousands.
New version of stamp follows ship's demise
Following the destruction of the warship, Ukrposhta have announced that a new version of the stamp will be issued this month, with the warship missing from the image and the date ‘14.04.2022’ added – the day on which the ship was sunk.
A statement on Facebook read:
‘The history of Ukrainian heroism is happening in our eyes. And we want to lock her up in the postal stamps. Therefore in May we present a new philatelic masterpiece as a continuation of the previous release… We will do our best to make them enough for everyone who wants them, and historical stamps despite the fuss have only caused pride for our country and its heroes.’
The ‘Russian Warship… Done’ stamps will have an issue limit of 5 million.
But someone is fighting back.
Cyber-attack on Ukraine Post Office
Ukrposhta recently reported that their website, including the online shop selling the stamps, has been the subject of a cyber-attack.
Writing on the organisation’s Facebook page Ihor Smilianskyi, Ukrposhta’s director general, said:
‘We are really doing everything, together with internet providers, to restore both the online store and other Ukrposhta systems that are also temporarily not working due to a DDos attack on our systems.’ At the time of writing the online shop was unavailable.
Estonia's stamp proves popular
Meanwhile, Mart Mägi, Chairman of the Management Board of Omniva, the Estonian postal service, has said that the sale of their ‘Glory to Ukraine’ stamp has sold twice as fast as their normal postage stamps.
‘I am happy to see that the postage stamp issued in support of Ukraine is so popular and its important message means a lot to so many people,’ he said. ‘I would like to thank everyone who has used these postage stamps and postcards to send a message of peace all around the world, and I urge everyone to continue to do so!’