COVER N.86 - Russia

Postmark: КАЛУГА ПОЧТАМТ УООПО -   ПОЧТА РОССИИ (Kaluga Post Office - Post Russia) 04MAR2220FEB22
Posted on the 4th March; received on the 29th March
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Russia; the mere invocation of the name today and all the images we've all seen on TV immediately come to mind... and yet a nation is much more than who is in power; who gave the absurd order; who sent thousands to their death; who once again robbed the future from innocent children who wonder why they had to undergo so much suffering, fleeing from their once peaceful homes... just like it happened decades ago in Leningrad, or unfortunately in so many places that a list would be hard to compile....

No, a nation is not one person and his subservient privileged entourage. A nation is its people, its culture, its values and traditions and they will always prevail over men who, by definition, are transient.

In this troubled times, when we all had to take sides, a mere postcard can be much more than a nice picture inside an envelope. It is a gesture of understanding, of sharing, of communion, of humanity. 

I never met Julia; she never met me, we don't know each other, so we don't know what each other thinks, believes, wants, and yet we both offered each other the pleasure of a common gesture, without any other intention than to foster an also common interest in learning, knowing, discovering. That's what drives humanity forward, not cannons, 

Thank you so much for another beautiful envelope with an equally nice card inside. I truly appreciated it.

The envelope Julia used was issued in 2020. Judging from the logo on the stamp corner it is meant to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ending of the second world war and also to mark the centenary of birth of Grigori A. Rechkalov, a twice hero of the Soviet Union and air combat ace with a total of 56 victories, 50 of them in the American built and supplied under  the lend lease program P-39 Airacobra, the aircraft that can be seen in the background on his portrait shot on the botttom left corner of the envelope.

Stamps:

6 Ruble stamp, part of a 5 stamp (5; 6; 7; 8; 9 Rubble) minisheet  celebrating the centenary of the birth of helicoper designer Mikhail Leontyevich Mil (1909-1970), whose picture can be seen in the vignette of the stamp with a very nice image of a Mil Mi-4, one of Mil's most famous designs, created as a counterpart to the American Sikorsky H-19, whose general outline and layout it follows.

24 Ruble stamp, issued on 28JUL2016, illustrated with a beautiful picture of a Grigorovich M-5, Flying Boat,  part of a four 24 Ruble stamp set themed on Weapons of the First World War which includes the 6.5mm Fedorov Automatic Rifle, 1916; the "Mgebrov Isotta-Fraschini", Armored Car and the "Empress Catherine the Great", Dreadnought. the stamps were issued on minisheet form (3x3) each minisheet also including a vignette in the upper left corner position.

The very clear postmark informs us that the letter was mailled from the city of Kaluga on the 4th March, coincidently, my birthday!