There is often news on Russian social networks that a stamp with a portrait of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was issued in Poland. We decided to check if such a brand exists.
December 6 in the Telegram channel “Ostashko! Important” (338,000 subscribers) posted an image of a Polish postage stamp with a portrait of Zelensky and the inscription “Glory to Ukraine” in Ukrainian and Polish. At the same time, the shadow in the portrait falling on Zelensky’s upper lip gives him a resemblance to Hitler. Therefore, the author of the post wonders whether such stamps are sent to Israel. This image appeared on Russian social networks before, in May 2022, for example in the agency Regnum and on regional news sites.
In May, a stamp with Zelensky was indeed issued in Poland, this was also reported Ukrainian, And Polish Media. But this news has many important details. Postal services in some countries issue so-called personalized brands. That is, anyone can place an image of their choice on the stamp: an inscription, their own portrait or a photograph of their beloved dog. For example, such a service is available at Austrian mail. It's enough just download image, pay for the service (you can order from 20 pieces), and then receive your order.
There is such a service in other countries - for example, in Ukraine And Poland. Officially, the post office does not distribute such stamps - you cannot, for example, buy a stamp at the post office with the image of an unknown person who has uploaded his photo to the site. The customer picks up his stamps, and then can stick them on letters and send them to friends. At the same time, they have a price indicated and, therefore, they are legal tender.
This is what Łukasz Wantuch, a member of the Kraków City Council, did. On May 11 he wrote in his Facebook, that he decided to release the world’s first stamp with Vladimir Zelensky. “Since there is no such thing, why not print your own,” Vantuch wrote. He ended up ordering 99 sheets of 9 stamps each using a personalized stamp service.
He took the image from what had become famous by that time mural in Warsaw with a portrait of Vladimir Zelensky.
It is immediately noticeable that the image in the Russian media differs from the original one. The shadow under Zelensky’s nose was completed, which created the opportunity, if desired, to find similarities with Hitler in him. There are no such “antennae” in the original image.
The Krakow deputy immediately put the stamps up for sale and stated that all the proceeds would go to the needs of the Ukrainian army. And he stuck one stamp on a postcard and sent it to Warsaw, to the Russian ambassador Sergei Andreev.
The news of the new Polish stamp spread widely that same day, and on May 12, postal department official Daniel Witowski explained: “A stamp with the image of President V. Zelensky was ordered as part of the “My Stamp” service. This service allows you to develop a brand according to your wishes. "Polish Post" does not sell these stamps, they are the property of the customer." A little later about this wrote and the department itself.
Thus, the Polish brand with Zelensky really exists. But the context of its appearance in the Russian media and blogs is distorted: it was not released by Poland as a result of a decision by the state postal department, but by the Polish Post on the order of a private individual. In addition, the very image in which Zelensky resembles Hitler is a fake, resulting from image editing.
Cover photo: social networks
Mostly not true
- Is Ukraine really planning to issue a postage stamp with Zelensky and Bandera?
- Is it true that the Republic of Chad issued a postage stamp depicting the explosion on the Crimean Bridge?
If you find a spelling or grammatical error, please let us know by highlighting the error text and clicking Ctrl+Enter.
