Moskva, one of the most powerful warships in the Black Sea, was a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy. The ship was commissioned in 1983, and named after the city of Moscow.
The Black Sea Fleet is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet has its official primary headquarters and facilities in Sevastopol, which Russia illegally took from Ukraine, along with the rest of Crimea, in 2014.
This blog is regarding the amazing story of the two amazing stamps of this year, released by Ukraine.
The story behind the first stamp- RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO … !
During February 2022, Moskva made global headline when it ordered a group of Ukrainian soldiers to surrender. When the troops refused to surrender, Russia took them into captive. By the end of next month the soldiers were released in a prisoner swap with Russia. And their commander was honoured with a medal by the Ukrainian military.
This incident acted as a morale boost for the Ukrainians and their military force. To commemorate this encounter on Snake Island, Ukrposhta, the Ukrainian postal department issued this stamp “Russian warship, Go … !”. The “fuck yourself” is tactfully omitted.
This stamp is one of the entries which won the stamp design competition held on 1st March 2022 by Ukrposhta. The stamp was designed by the artist Borys Grokh. The stamp depicts one of the soldiers showing the middle finger to the Russian warship, Moskva. And the layout of the stamp including blue sea and land resembles the national flag of Ukraine. The stamp was released in two different denominations W (for international use ~$1.5) and F (domestic use).
The story behind the second stamp- RUSSIAN WARSHIP, DONE!
After completing 2 and half months of repair and maintenance in July 2020, the lifetime of Moskva increased by 20 years, till 2040. But on 14th April 2022, while leading the naval assault during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it sank near Snake Island.
Russian Defence Ministry said, due hull damage, sustained during the detonation of ammunition because of a fire and heavy storm, while towing the ship to designation port, the ship sank. And with this they didn’t acknowledge the cause of the fire. In other hand, US intelligence and Ukraine officials said, the main cause behind the sinking of the mighty warship was two Ukraine made Neptune anti-ship missiles.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence declared the sunken Russian warship Moskva as cultural heritage site.
Two sheetlets of 3 stamps were issued by Ukraine postal department after this incident. This time the stamp design was a little twisted. Each stamp has a coupon attached, “DONE” printed on it. And on the postage stamp, the Ukrainian soldier is standing in the same posture as in the first stamp but without the ship, which signifies the sinking of the ship.
Two different sheets of stamps were released with the denominations W and F. The sheetlet with W says “RUSSIAN WARSHIP … DONE! Glory to the nation!” While the sheetlet with F says “RUSSIAN WARSHIP … DONE! Death to the enemies!”
These two stamps immediately went viral and became most wanted among philatelists across the globe just after their release. And proved that a stamp is more than just a piece of paper.