COVER N. 391 - UKRAINE 

Postmark: Odessa 27 Ukraina 27.12.2023

Posted on the 27th December 2023; received on the 15th January 2024 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Just before the end of the year, the Phantom managed to visit the beautiful city of Odessa, on the Black Sea,  which, just like the whole country and its valiant people is writing an everyday story of resistance and  endurance in the face of the unjustifiable aggression it has been suffering for almost two years now.

Thanks a lot, Alex, I'm sure that a seemingly insignificant gesture as visiting a Post office in the Ukraine these days and asking for some stamps and postmarks is a little note of naturalness and civility  that helps bring some sense of normality into the lives of all those afflicted by the absurd conflict.

Within the context of the war, railways in the Ukraine have taken a new much improved role as a strategic transportation infrastructure both in what concerns internal communications and Ukraine's links with the outside world.

As such, added strain has, I'm sure, been put into all those who ensure that train services are being provided in the current state of affairs.

Acknowledging their contribution to the country’s defence, Ukraposhta issued on 02NOV2023 a two stamp, tariff W, souvenir sheet, as a tribute to Railway Workers. The sheet and stamps are illustrated with a painting of a railway station with two trains in the platforms, one of the stamps (the one with a train on fire, on the cover) carrying the legend "Kherson" and the other " Lviv".

The stamps illustrate one of the many sad episodes of the war, which took place on May the 4th 2023, when the Kherson to Lviv train was shelled by the Russian army at the Kherson station. Thanks to the swift action of the railway personnel, the burning car was promptly unhooked from the remaining composition and the train continued to Lviv, leaving Kherson station with only a 14 minute delay, as I read on an Ukranian news website.

To complete postage, Alex used a ж tariff stamp from a minisheet sheet with 20 defintive stamps issued on 17MAR2017, entitled, "Eight definitive issue - trees", illustrated with extremely beautiful images of tree leaves and fruits, the one on the stamp being that of the White Willow.

All the available postmarks at Odessa Main Post Office can be seen on this very particular cover.