Armed Forces of Ukraine sheet of stamps

Stamp sheet "Armed Forces of Ukraine. Land Forces"

Militarism in philately has existed since its inception. Each country highlights the power of its army on its postage stamps, cards, envelopes and postcards. The issues are based on personalities, military branches, events, equipment and military developments.

Military issues on the pages of Ukrainian philately expanded significantly after 2014, when the armed conflict broke out and the anti-terrorist operation in the east of the country was launched. The second impetus for this was in 2022, when the Russian army invaded Ukraine and occupied the cities of the east and south of the country..

Military themes on Ukrainian stamps

After Ukraine became independent, the possibilities for production increased significantly, as there was no need for political censorship, as there was during the Soviet era. The first issues were devoted to the Cossacks and hetmans. The second major series, which was issued 6 times and includes 24 different stamps, is called "History of the Ukrainian Army." The issues were released for 5 years in a row during 2002-2006 and the last one in 2010. The stamps depicted warriors from different periods: Scythians, ancient Slavs, ancient Rus, the Lithuanian-Russian period, and the Cossacks. The largest edition in the series was 300 thousand copies 2003.

Another series depicting Ukraine's military formations of the past is the "Military Forces of the Ukrainian Revolution" of 1917-1921. In 2019-2021, 8 stamps were issued in 130 thousand copies, depicting Cossacks, riflemen, and machine gunners: The Ukrainian Galician Army, the Black Cossacks Regiment, the Separate Detachment of the Sich Riflemen, the Ukrainian (Blue Coat) Division, the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Ukrainian Regiment, the General Rifle Division of the UPR Army, the Auto-Panzer Division of the Ukrainian Army, and the Legion of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen.

The stamps dedicated to modern Ukrainian military and weapons date back to the post-2014 period. Perhaps it was the ATO that made it possible to realize the importance and significance of the Ukrainian army. While since 1991 the armed forces and their training format were a legacy of the Soviet period, after 2015 the Ukrainian army was changing rapidly. Every year, new standards were introduced, and NATO-compatible exercises were conducted. Therefore, in 2022, the Ukrainian military repelled the attack of the Russian army, which failed to achieve its goal of entering Kyiv and capturing the government.

During 2014-2022, the following stamps were issued dedicated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the ATO and JFO soldiers:

·         2014 - soldier "The Frenchman", 183 thousand copies;

·         2018 - "Leshiy" soldier, 130 thousand copies;

·         2018 - "Brand" soldier, 130 thousand copies;

·         2020 - "Cyborgs" stamp, 130 thousand copies.

At the same time, Ukrposhta, together with Ukroboronprom, issued stamps dedicated to Ukrainian military equipment. The series was released in 2016, 2017 and 2020, with a total of 7 stamps issued. In December 2022, a sheet of Weapons of Victory stamps was issued, which can be called a continuation of the series. But this time, the stamps depicted not only Ukrainian weapons. All the weapons on the 2022 stamps were tested in combat during the defense and counteroffensives aimed at liberating Ukrainian lands from the occupiers. The entire year of 2022 is atypical for philatelic issues, as the vast majority of them are related to the course of military operations.

ground forces of Ukraine

Description of the stamp sheet "Armed Forces of Ukraine. Land Forces"

The last issue that was released before the full-scale invasion of the Russian army and dedicated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the series "Modern Uniforms". It was produced with the support of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and is dedicated to the uniforms and insignia of the Land Forces. In March, Ukrposhta put the stamps into circulation and emphasized that this issue was the first in the series. Therefore, it is possible to assume that the issues will continue after the end of martial law.

·         Date - 03/14/2021

·         Circulation of the sheet - 20 thousand copies.

·         Stamp size - 30x40.5 mm

·         Sheet size - 137x108 mm

·         Number on one sheet - 8 (4x2)

·         Denomination - V

·         Design author - Oleksii Bondarenko

Initially, Ukrposhta proposed to release the issue on February 23, but the Ministry of Defense disagreed and protested because the date coincided with the creation of the Red Army and the Russian celebration of the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland and the Day of Military Glory. Therefore, the issue was postponed to March 14, which is the Day of the Ukrainian Volunteer.

All sheet stamps are presented in a vertical format. Each stamp depicts a representative of the ground forces in uniform, with a sign of the type of unit next to it:

·         Missile Forces and Artillery;

·         Mechanized troops;

·         Presidential Regiment;

·         Air Defense Forces;

·         Mountain infantry;

·         Army Aviation;

·         Tank troops;

·         Combined arms uniforms.

tank troops of Ukraine

The background on four stamps is the Ukrainian flag, while on other stamps the background is depicted with the specifics of the unit (artillery unit, tank, mountain landscape). The bottom of each stamp indicates the unit's affiliation.

The sketches were created by Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Bondarenko, who is a co-author of the graphic novel Volya (an alternative history comic set in 1917-1920 in the dieselpunk style).

Envelope of the first day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine