Ukrainians flock to buy stamp marking Snake Island standoff
Kyiv, Apr 19 (EFE).- Thousands of people flocked to Kyiv’s main post office Tuesday to snap up a stamp commemorating the standoff between Ukrainian forces on Snake Island and the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva, which Ukraine has since claimed to have sunk with cruise missiles.
The collector’s item, which went on sale on April 13, commemorates the incident with an image of a Ukrainian soldier raising his middle finger in an obscene gesture to the Moskva warship with a text that reads: “Russian warship, f**k you.”
The artwork for the stamp was created by artist Boris Groh in honor of Ukrainian border guard Roman Gribov, who along with his 12 companions was captured on the small island of Zmiinyi (Snake Island) after refusing to surrender.
Ukraine has claimed the Russian Black Sea flagship Moskva sunk on April 14 after a missile strike caused an explosion and fire.
Moscow insists the warship sank after a munitions explosion damaged the vessel.
Ukrainian Post released the commemorative postage stamp on April 12, two days before the sinking of the Moskva vessel.
A 79-year-old, who identified himself as Mikhael, had been waiting five hours to get hold of some stamps which are being sold for less than a dollar but already exceed $200 in online markets.
“It is a good souvenir and its price will increase as time goes by,” the retiree, who plans to keep a few of the stamps and resell the rest, told Efe.
Olej, who wished to be identified by his first name only, has already bought several stamps: “I’m going to keep a few, but I’ll also send a few to Russia so they can see them,” the 46-year-old bricklayer chuckled. EFE
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