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Ukrposhta envelopes and stamps with the slogan »Russian warship, fuck you!«
Photo: Ukrposhta
In Ukraine, a war stamp becomes a cult object.
It depicts a Ukrainian soldier giving the finger to a Russian warship.
After the sinking of the »Moskva«, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, a veritable run on postage stamps began.
Hundreds of Ukrainians queued for hours at the main post office in Kyiv on Friday to get copies of the stamp.
The motif is an allusion to a recorded radio message in the early days of the war at the end of February.
At that time, a Russian warship had asked the Snake Island garrison to lay down their arms.
According to Ukraine, the Ukrainian marine infantryman Roman Hrybow replied: "Russian warship, fuck you!" The soldier then became a folk hero.
Since then, the plausible but not yet verified slogan has been placarded nationwide and adorns T-shirts and other souvenirs.
In early March, the Ukrainian Post announced a competition to commemorate the event.
After more than 500 suggestions, the illustration by artist Boris Groh was chosen.
It shows a Ukrainian soldier giving a middle finger to a Russian ship on yellow sand.
"When we designed the stamp, we didn't know how this episode would end, but we're very happy about it," says Ihor Smelyansky, director general of Ukraine Post.
The stamp was already sold out in Kyiv on Friday afternoon.
"We wanted to print more," said Smelyansky.
But Russian air raids on Kyiv "disrupted the operation of the factory."
Now other brands of the limited edition of one million copies are to be produced as soon as possible.
According to a spokesman for the Ukrainian army, the "Moskva" was hit by Ukrainian rockets on Thursday and sank shortly afterwards.
Moscow has not yet confirmed the information.
ssu/AFP
