KYIV (Reuters) – Residents in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Friday snapped up a new postage stamp commemorating a blast that damaged a major bridge linking Russia to Crimea in a blow to the prestige of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There isn’t a corner of the world which hasn’t asked us to send them (the stamp),” said Liudmyla Samoilova, among dozens of people who lined up to get the stamps when they went on sale at Kyiv’s post office.
“We’ve sent them to America, Australia,” she said as she stuck the stamps to envelopes. “People are excited about these events and wait for the good news.”
The bridge – a showcase project of Putin’s rule and crucial supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine – was partially wrecked in an explosion last month. Russia blamed Ukraine but Kyiv has not claimed responsibility.
The stamps show a man and a woman standing on the broken bridge in a pose echoing a famous scene from the movie “Titanic” as smoke billows behind them.
Olena Tumanska, who is originally from Crimea, said she hoped for the destruction of the bridge.
“I hope that justice prevails soon,” said Tumanska, adding she hoped to visit Crimea next summer.
Ukraine says it will one day retake Crimea, which was occupied by Russian forces in 2014.
In April, the national postal service issued a stamp depicting a Ukrainian soldier making a crude gesture at a Russian warship. It went on sale after the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet blew up and sank.
(Reporting by Sergiy Karazy and Andrii Pryimachenko, editing by David Ljunggren and Rosalba O’Brien)
