A Ukrainian shows stamps commemorating the Snake Island incident at the Central Post Office in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 18, 2022. Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A limited-edition stamp commemorating the Ukrainian resistance has officially sold out in person, officials said.
The seal depicts a fighter from the Ukrainian special forces raising his middle finger to the Russian forces.
The Russian warship pictured on the stamp sank earlier this month.
The commemorative stamp, which commemorates what is now an iconic moment of the Ukrainian resistance earlier this year, has sold out in person after scores of Ukrainians waited in hours-long queues to get their hands on the limited-edition seal.
The stamp, which depicts a Ukrainian special forces fighter defiantly raising his middle finger at a Russian warship, has quickly become a collector’s item among Ukrainians and their supporters.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s postal director Igor Smelyansky confirmed the shortage in a Facebook post, saying the country has sold nearly 700,000 stamps since the project was announced in early March.
Over the past week, Ukrainians have formed long lines, often waiting for hours, to buy the $1.77 and $1.83 iterations of the stamp. The stamps have also become obvious moneymakers, according to The New York Times, reselling on eBay for up to $100 each.
In his Facebook post, Smelyansky thanked the “tens of thousands of people” in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities who came to buy the stamp.
The national postal service issued a set of one million stamps commemorating the early invasion incident where Ukrainian border guards on Zmiinyi (Snake) island reportedly told Russian troops to fuck themselves after being told to fuck themselves to surrender.
The 13 Ukrainian soldiers were initially presumed dead after the incident, but had actually been captured by Russia. They have since been released as part of a prisoner swap.
The Russian ship involved in the episode, seen in the background of the stamp, sank earlier this month after being hit by Ukrainian Neptune rockets a day after the stamps went on sale officially.
The story goes on
Smelyansky told The Guardian that he had the idea of a commemorative stamp early in the war. The country’s postal authority then voted to select one of 20 finalist designs commemorating the Snake Island incident, which has become a symbolic moment of Ukraine’s resistance amid war.
In his Facebook post on Wednesday, Smelyansky said no more stamps would be printed to preserve the item’s value. He asked hopeful collectors not to queue at 5 a.m. Thursday morning “because there will be no stamps.”
Smelyansky said he reserved stamps for 1,500 people who waited in line on Wednesday but were unable to complete their purchase, and pledged to make an additional 100,000 stamps available for purchase online starting Friday.
The Ukrainian government said on Twitter that a number of stamps and envelopes owned by both Smelyansky and Roman Gribov, the Snake Island soldier who spoke directly to the Russian attackers, would be auctioned online on Friday.
Natalii Tkachenko, a Ukrainian, told The Guardian that she was lucky enough to buy the stamps on the first day of their release.
“It’s a symbol, a message. It reflects our inner patriotism,” she said. “I was born here. I live in this country. They want to destroy us. I will not surrender.”
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