The joke turned into a lie: Russia did not issue a stamp on the occasion of the downing of the US drone

At the beginning of the week, the whole world held its breath for a moment when the first messages appeared about the collision between a Russian military plane and a US drone.

According to a US official familiar with the incidentan American MQ-9 Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker fighter jets were operating in international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian fighter jets deliberately flew in front of the unmanned drone.

The Pentagon and US European Command said two Russian Su-27 jets refueled the MQ-9, which was on a routine surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace.

They said Russian jets flew several times around and in front of the drone for 30 to 40 minutes before one of the Russian aircraft “struck the MQ-9’s propeller”, causing the US MQ-9 to fall and crash in international waters.

However, the Kremlin presented another version of this incident.

Moscow claims that its plane did not use weapons and did not collide with the drone, reports the BBC.

Russian airspace control systems are said to have detected a US MQ-9 drone flying over the Black Sea, near the Crimean peninsula, in the direction of the border with the Russian Federation.

Russia has accused the United States of violating the limits of its temporary airspace “established for a special military operation.”

Russia says it launched its aircraft to identify the intruder, but due to rapid maneuvering, the MQ-9 drone went into “uncontrollable flight after losing altitude and colliding with the surface of the water”.

A little later, the US released a video of the incident.

A joke – on the example of Ukrainians

Soon after, on social networks started sharing the image of the stampallegedly issued by the Russian Post.

Images of a drone and an airplane are crudely pasted on it, as well as the inscription in English “American military drone, go to hell!”.

“In response to the infamous Ruskij vajenyj karabl about a year ago, they issued a mocking postage stamp sending a drone to where their ship was sent in English”– is published in the comment of one of the Internet users who spread this image (the language is not corrected).

The “response” mentioned in the comment reminds Ukrainians about postage stampwhich was issued by the Post Office of Ukraine almost two months after the start of the war.

It is depicted on it Ukrainian soldier showing the middle finger to a warship.

In addition, the stamp depicts the outline of Snake Island in the Black Sea and the beginning of the sentence “On a Russian warship, go…”.

The motif and the sentence are a reference to a phrase broadcast on the radio in the early days of the war at the end of February.

The Russian warship then called on the defenders of Snake Island to lay down their arms and surrender.

To this, Ukrainian marine Roman Hrybov replied: “On a Russian warship, go n…”.

The soldier became a hero for Ukrainians, and this phrase became widely heard around the world as a symbol of resistance to Russia. It can be seen in posters, on a shirt and other souvenirs.

The postmark is fake

Although it is claimed on social networks that the Russians allegedly issued a commemorative stamp for the sinking of a US drone, a closer look reveals that it is just a fake.

First of all, its denomination is not indicated on the sign.

The official website of the Russian Post statesthat the main denominations of standard stamps that can be purchased at post offices are 11 types and range from 1 to 100 rubles.

Limited edition, artistic or thematic stamps may also be issued, but they too must bear the denomination.

On commemorative stamps issued in 2023 there is no such drawing either.

Also, the Russian Post has not issued any press release about the planned publication of the stamp, and a “sample” of the stamp can only be found on social networks.

The publication was prepared in 15 minutes in partnership with Facebookwhich aims to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.