At the end of September 2023, news spread across the Internet that Ukrposhta allegedly dedicated a new stamp to a veteran of the Waffen-SS “Galicia” division, now living in Canada. We decided to check if this is true.
On September 26, messages appeared on social networks about a new Ukrainian stamp - supposedly Ukrposhta placed on it a portrait of Yaroslav Gunka, a veteran of the Galicia division, because of whom a scandal broke out a few days earlier during Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to Canada. It was stated that such a stamp was no longer available in the online store, but it could still be purchased at branches of the Ukrainian postal service. Telegram channels, in particular, wrote about this “Live broadcast"(680,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Uncle Slava"(205,000), "Truthfulness"(200,000), "Turned on Z war 🇷🇺" (197,000) and "Ostashko! Important"(109,000).
The news about the brand with Yaroslav Gunka appeared against the background scandal in the Canadian Parliament, which occurred during the visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. On September 22, Zelensky spoke to Canadian legislators, and after his speech, Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota offered to thank the World War II veteran with applause. It soon became clear that Yaroslav Gunka was serving in the Ukrainian Waffen-SS Galicia division at that time. As a result, a scandal broke out, the Canadian authorities apologized, and the Speaker of the House of Commons resigned.
Posts about the allegedly issued stamp are accompanied by two photographs. On one of them, allegedly, there is the stamp itself, on the other - the same rectangle, but allegedly taken at the Ukrposhta branch.
The image consists of several elements: the background is made in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, on it - Zelensky and his wife in the Canadian parliament; slightly to the right of center is a portrait of Gunka, perforated along the edges. To the left of the portrait is the inscription “Heroes do not die” in Ukrainian and English. In the upper right corner there is a barcode.
It is difficult to understand from the photograph whether this is really the brand in the composition post block or about the postcard that accompanies the issue of a stamp. Assuming that such a block was released, several inconsistencies immediately stand out. Firstly, the stamp does not contain the name of the country that issued it, and secondly, the denomination is not indicated. On modern Ukrainian stamps, the denomination is indicated directly, in hryvnias, or using a letter designation. Without this, the stamp cannot be considered a postage mark.
The barcode on the viral image is also untrue. Each block of stamps issued by Ukrposhta is unique. Fact-checking project Factcheck.kz determined, that this barcode was taken from another postal block, issued on August 24, 2022 for the Independence Day of Ukraine.
Many posts on social networks indicate that stamps with Yaroslav Gunka are no longer available in the online store, but you can buy them in Ukrposhta branches - probably, with the help of such a note, the authors of such publications wanted to convince those readers who would try to verify the information of their authenticity. However, you do not need to go to the online store for this. In the case of postage stamps, everything is strictly regulated: each officially issued stamp is entered under a certain number in the national catalog, and then in the world catalog. On September 14, 2023, Ukrposhta released a series of stamps “Cities of heroes. Kharkov region" There are four stamps in this series, and they are listed in the Ukrposhta catalog under numbers 2053–2056. Next episode – “Weapon of Victory"(issued on September 29) from six stamps, which are designated in the catalog by numbers 2057–2062. It is also known which brand will go on sale next - with the image of a cross "For military merits", numbered 2063. At the time of writing, it has not yet been released, but is available for pre-order. This leaves no room in the catalog for any other brand. The fact that no stamps with Gunka were officially issued confirmed in response to a request from Reuters and a representative of Ukrposhta, who called the picture a fake.
The earliest publication with viral photos that “Verified” was able to find was a post in the Telegram channel “Shaman Rahu"(3000 views), which appeared on September 26 at 13:25 Moscow time. This Telegram channel is already more than once was becoming the primary source of fake news about Ukraine, presenting the photos and videos he posts as sent by subscribers.
Thus, the image of the stamp allegedly issued by Ukrposhta is fake. The Ukrainian postal department did not print such a stamp, and the barcode in the image was taken from another block issued a year before.
Cover photo: social networks
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