COVER N. 294 - UKRAINE

Postmark: Kyiv 134 Ukraina 17.07.23

Posted on the 17th July; Received on the 13th August 2023

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Another cover from martirised Ukraine. It is no small wonder that on times like this, under the constant threat of bombings and all the other obnoxiousness that war is so prodigal in producing, people still find ways to cling to some sort of normality. Hobbies can help, I presume; anything that might distract the mind from the horrors that are actually felt, not just witnessed for brief moments on the news on TV, might help but I guess there is no escaping reality, which is always there to make its abhorrent presence be felt, just like yesterday, at a peaceful market, of all places...., in Kostantinovka. How can such an order be given? How can a human being hit the fire button for such an hideous crime?

War dehumanises people, and the wounds will take ages to heel, if ever.....

Where have all the flowers gone....?

Thanks a lot Basil, I most sincerely wish you can go back to enjoying your hobby in peace as soon as possible.

Mир; Mir; Peace and Victory reads the legend on the frame of the companion stamp to the common design  stamp, by its side, which constitutes the Ukranian 2023 Europa set, issued on 24MAY2023, precisely 15 months after the beginning of the unjustifiable Russian invasion.

On the stamp, a young girl closes her eyes and wishes for those two words to come true, no doubt about it, while a white dove flies by, answering her summons....

Peace, the Highest Value of Humanity, reads the cyrillic legend on the side of both stamps...

On 03JUN2020, Ukrposhta issued two more definitive stamps of the Ukrainian cities coats of arms series. One of them, with an H letter denomination (letter denominations on Ukrainian stamps are a rather complex matter and I cannot find a document explaining what they stand for) and illustrated with the coat of arms of  Stariy Merchik, can be seen on the cover.

Ukraposhta has also been adding quite regularly stamps to a definitive series dedicated to the traditional hand painted Pysanka Easter eggs. The one on the cover, is illustrated with an egg from Hutsulshchyna, and was issued on 21APR2023, with the letter tariff T.

Of note is the fact that for the cover, Basil used  the official  envelope for the Europa 2023 issue.