Russian PM establishes “Crimean Post” to run postal services in occupied territory
Russia’s rogue takeover of the Crimean region of Ukraine has continued with its establishment of a new postal service for the area. The Russian Federation’s Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev signed a degree on Friday creating Crimean Post, to provide postal services in the breakaway republic and Sevastopol.
The new postal company will be overseen by the Russian Ministry of Communications, with its services integrated with Russian Post.
Earlier this month Ukraine Post informed the Universal Postal Union that it was no longer able to provide postal services in the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol after being muscled out of postal facilities in the area.
In a statement on Friday, the Russian Ministry of Communications said all post offices on the peninsula were now working “as usual”, and that the exchange of Russian domestic mail with Crimea was going “smoothly”.
Russian Post intends to fully integrate with Crimea Post, taking the region into its “domestic” network. Crimean Post is set to be a transitional organisation.
International postal operators around the world have suspended international mail services to the Crimea region despite Russian Post’s claim that it can provide final delivery.
The US Postal Service was one of those most recently suspending its services for items going to the area, including Global Express Guaranteed, Priority Mail Express International, Priority Mail International, First-Class Mail International, and package delivery services. Mail already in the process is being returned to senders.
Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov signed a bill today declaring the Crimean region and Sevastopol “occupied territories” after Russia annexed the area in February and March after a local referendum declared by the UN to be “invalid”.
