COVER N. 413 - ABKHAZSIA

Postmark: ? 16.012024

Posted on the 16 January; Received on the 28th February 2024

_________________________________________________________________________________

Abkhazia. Another hotspot issued out of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, which, like South Ossetia, remains an unsettled question between Russia and Georgia, much as Transnistria does between Russia and Moldova.

The Republic of Abkhazia is only recognised by Russia and less than a handful of  its usual allies, while most of the world's flags consider Abkhazia to be a Georgian territory under Russian occupation.

Today’s news on TV brought echoes ever growing tension in Transnistria, at a time when things in Ukraine seem to be getting tougher and tighter for the defendants, especially affected by the internal dispute in the US and Europe's lack of industrial capacity....

The fuse seems to be slowly burning everywhere.... History does not repeat itself, some say, but stupidity is inherent to humans it seems...

A huge thanks to The Phantom, who managed to get me this very interesting addition to my collection. Danke sehr, Alex!

The stamp on this cover is a statement by itself...it was issued on 29SEP2018 as part of a two stamp set (15 and 50  Russian Ruble) celebrating 25 years of Abkhazia - Transnistria friendship, illustrated by the flags of the two separatist regions...

I cannot decipher the neat postmark, but confronting it to the Wikipedia article  I can affirm that the first part of the upper legend reads Republic of Abkhazia.

On the left there is a small stamp saying Abkhazian Post - Postage paid.