COVER N. 258 - UKRAINE

Postmark: Odessa Ukraine 04.05.2023

Posted on the 4th May; Received on the 25th May 2023
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Another unexpected cover from Alex, the wanderer. I have received so many covers from Alex, from so many different places that whenever I get a new one I can't help but think of Lee Falks' famous character, the Phantom, "the ghost who walks", since he seems to be all over the place at the same time 😀.

Vielen Dank, Alex!

Odessa, the beautiful Ukrainian  port city in the Black Sea, whose historic centre as of January this year has been declared both  a World Heritage Site and an Endangered World Heritage Site all at the same time, due to the effective danger that it faces as a result of the Russian aggression that is now on its second year and with no prospects of coming to an end in the near future....

How much longer will Ukraine have to withstand the senseless and unprovoked aggression of its neighbour...? and then, because all wars come to an end, mainly after the weight of the dead begins to be felt past the point of critical mass, (or critical mess, really...), how will the wounds heal, if ever...? Russian leaders  have condemned  several forthcoming generations to endemic hatred... quite an achievement albeit not one to be particularly proud of...

The pre-stamped printed envelope needs no explanation other than the legend it carries under the image of an Ukrainian soldier hand that clasps the shoulder of someone who in spite of having his back turned on us, we all know who he is...."Welcome to hell", so reads the legend.

- The pre-printed U tariff (domestic up to 50g) stamp  is illustrated with the Trident, the National Symbol of Ukraine, exhibiting the colours of the Country's flag.

The other stamps, left to right:

- U + 8  hryvnia stamp, part of a six common denomination stamp sheet, issued on 14OCT2022, under the motto "Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine". The stamp is illustrated with  a member of Ukraine's Navy and the image of the Vorontsov lighthouse, what makes  great sense in this particular cover since it is located in the city where the cover was mailed from: Odessa.

- U + 3  hryvnia stamp, part of a six common denomination stamp sheet, issued on 06DEC2022, dedicated to the "Weapons of Victory". On the stamp an image of  a Neptune anti-ship missile launcher. The Neptune made the news for having been the missile that sank the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the  cruiser Moskva. Again, the choice of stamp is not hazardous because the Neptune missiles that sank the Moskva were shot from the Odessa region.

- On the 8th October 2022, the bridge that Russia built, connecting its territory to occupied Crimea, made the news because it was sabotaged, severely impairing its ability to carry both auto and train traffic.

Ukrapost issued a stamp celebrating this fact, demanding an "Encore for the Crimea Bridge". The M tariff stamp is illustrated with an image of the collapsed bridge, whereupon a couple looks into the horizon, mimicking DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in "Titanic".

The small H tariff stamps are examples of the definitive stamp issued on 21JAN22 as part of the Coats of Arms series. It depicts the coat of arms of the city of Bohodukhiv, in the Kharkiv Oblast.

The stamp on the back of the cover is  part of a set of two definitives issued on 27SEP22, and is illustrated with an egg painted with a motif typical of the Vinnytsia region. Its companion Stamp can be seen here.

There's no shortage of postmarks on the cover. Other than the regular postamrk that reads Odessa 1 - Ukrposhta, it contains two nice pictorial postmarks:

 

image Credits: Ukrposhta