Emissions of state valuable postal matter in May

On May 5, an envelope with a commemorative stamp dedicated to the 100th Birth Anniversary of Aleksandra Akimova, woman pilot-navigator, Hero of the Russian Federation will go into postal circulation in the On the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 series

Aleksandra Akimova (1922-2012) was a military pilot-navigator of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, Hero of the Russian Federation.

She was born on May 5, 1922, in the village of Petrushino of the Ryazan Province.

In March 1942, she graduated from navigator courses at the Engels Military Aviation School for Pilots and was enrolled as an aviation ordnance master in the 588th Women's Light Bomber Aviation Regiment. In the composition of the Regiment, she was in the war since May 1942 on the Southern, North Caucasian and Transcaucasian fronts, participated in the Donbass defensive operation and in the battle for the Caucasus. In the course of operational acivity, she underwent retraining in the Regiment and became a pilot-navigator of an air flight, and then a pilot-navigator of aircraft squadron. In this capacity, she was in action in the composition of the Regiment on the North Caucasian Front, in the Separate Primorsky Army and on the 2nd Belorussian Front.

During her flight work, from April 1943 to May 1945, Lieutenant Akimova performed 680 (or 715, according to other sources) operational sorties. She initiated over 120 seats of heavy fires, destroyed 2 crossings, eliminated with direct hits 2 ammunition warehouses, 3 anti-aircraft searchlights, 7 vehicles with fuel and neutralized 3 artillery batteries.

The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 31, 1994, awarded senior lieutenant Aleksandra Akimova the title of Hero of the Russian Federation "for the courage and heroism manifested in the fight against the Nazi invaders in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

The envelope with a commemorative stamp provides an image of the logotype of the celebration of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945; the main image features pilot-navigator Aleksandra Akimova against a U-2 aircraft.

In addition to the issue of the envelope with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka will produce special cancels for Moscow and Ryazan.


Design Artists: A. Moskovets, R. Komsa.
Quantity: 500 thousand envelopes.


On May 6, an envelope with a commemorative stamp dedicated to the 100th Birth Anniversary of Vitaly Popkov, pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union will go into postal circulation in the On the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 series

Vitaly Popkov (1922-2010) was a Soviet ace pilot, participant in the Great Patriotic War, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General of Aviation.

He was born on May 1, 1922, in Moscow. He finished the Krasnopresnensky Aero Club in 1940, and then graduated from the Chuguev military aviation pilot school in 1941 and from the Bataysk military aviation pilot school in 1942. Since May 1942, Popkov was in the acting army. He participated in the battles for Rzhev and Stalingrad, as well as in many offensive operations in the composition of the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at the Kalinin, South-Western, 1st and 3rd Ukrainian fronts.

By May 1945, Popkov performed 358 sorties, conducted 85 air battles, and using own efforts shot down 40 German airplanes. He was at war on Russian fighters LaGG-3, La-5 and La-7.

The envelope with a commemorative stamp provides an image of the logotype of the celebration of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945; the main image features fighter pilot Vitaly Popkov and La-7 aircraft.

In addition to the issue of the envelope with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka will produce a special cancel for Moscow.


Photo: V. Stepanenko/TASS.
Design Artist: A. Moskovets.
Quantity: 500 thousand envelopes.


On May 6, a postage stamp dedicated to the 100th Birth Anniversary of Vladimir Etush, theater and film actor, will go into postal circulation in the Full Cavalier of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland series

Vladimir Etush (1922-2019) was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, educator, artistic director of the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute (2003-2019), People's Artist of the USSR (1984).

He was born on May 6, 1922, in Moscow. In 1940, he entered the Boris Shchukin Higher Theatre School; on the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he volunteered to the front to serve in a rifle regiment; he was in the action near Rostov-on-Don, in Kabarda and Ossetia mountains, was at war near Malgobek city and participated in liberation of Don land and Ukraine. In 1944, he returned to the fourth year of the theatre school, and in 1945 finished the acting faculty and was taken into the company of the Vakhtangov Theater, where he soon became one of the leading actors.

In 1945, he began teaching as an assistant educator for the mastery of the actor at the Boris Shchukin Higher Theatre School, where he became a professor in 1976. In 1987, Etush took up a position of the rector, and in 2003, that of the artistic director of the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute.

Vladimir Etush started acting in films in 1953. He was a master of character and comedy roles. Filmgoers remember well his roles in L. Gaidai's comedies Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, or New Adventures of Shurik (1966), The Twelve Chairs (1971), Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973). Etush’s acting style manifested itself vividly in tale films An Old, Old Tale (1968), The Shadow (1971), How Ivanushka the Fool Travelled in Search of Wonder (1977), as well as in TV film The Adventures of Buratino (1975).

The postage stamp provides a portrait of Vladimir Etush and the image of The Order of Merit for the Fatherland.

In addition to the issue of the postage stamp, JSC Marka will produce First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad.


Design Artist: A. Moskovets.
Face value: 40 rubles.
Stamp size: 42×30 mm, sheet size: 142×174 mm.
Emission form: a sheet (3×5) with 14 stamps and a coupon.
Quantity: 140 thousand stamps (10 thousand sheets).


On May 6, five stamps devoted to counter-intelligence officers P. Fedotov, E. Pitovranov, O. Gribanov, G. Grigorenko, and I. Markelov will go into postal circulation for the 100th Anniversary of counter-intelligence agencies

On May 6, 1922, in recognition of the activation of foreign secret services in Soviet Russia, the leadership of the State Political Administration of the RSFSR took a decision to establish a special unit in the GPU structure for combating foreign espionage, referred to as the V Counterintelligence Division of GPU and its local authorities. Counterintelligence units were engaged in fighting subversive activities of foreign intelligence services, foreign emigrant centers, political banditry, smuggling and illegal border crossing.

The postage stamps provide portraits of prominent counterintelligence officers: P. Fedotov, E. Pitovranov, O. Gribanov, G. Grigorenko, and I. Markelov, and the symbol of the state security agencies – the sword and the shield. The design of the coupon features the emblem of the Counterintelligence Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation and the jubilee lapel badge "100th Anniversary of Counter-intelligence Services". The margins present images of the buildings in Lubyanka Square when the VChK of the RSFSR SNK started working there in 1919 and its current guise after the reconstruction.

In addition to the issue of the postage stamps, JSC Marka will produce First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Saratov.


Design Artist: V. Beltyukov.
Face value: 40 rubles.
Stamp size: 42×30 mm, sheet size: 144×103 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with formatted margins with (3×2) 5 stamps and a coupon.
Quantity: 37 thousand each stamp (37 thousand sheets).


On May 6, a stamp dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the K. Timiryazev State Biological Museum will go into postal circulation

The K. Timiryazev State Biological Museum was founded in 1922 by Boris Zavadovsky, an academician, a prominent expert in physiology, endocrinology, and biology. The Museum is located in a former homestead of Russian collector and philanthropist Pyotr Shchukin.

Nowadays, the collection of the Museum amounts to more than 90,000 depository items. The exposition covers all the branches of biology. The collections are unmatched: anthropological reconstructions, clamshells, botanical exhibits, zoological collections, wet preparations of abnormal embryological development and a lot more.

The postage stamp provides an image of exhibits and the building of the K. Timiryazev State Biological Museum.

In addition to the issue of the postage stamp, JSC Marka will produce First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as an illustrated envelope with a postage stamp, a First Day Cover with a cancel for Moscow and a label inside.


Design Artist: S. Kapranov.
Face value: 60 rubles.
Stamp size: 37×37 mm, sheet size: 131×137 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with 9 (3×3) stamps.
Quantity: 99 thousand stamps (11 thousand sheets).


On May 17, a postal block dedicated to the 150th Birth Anniversary of V. Byalynitsky-Birulya will go into postal circulation within a joint issue of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus

Vitold K. Byalynitsky-Birulya (1872-1957) was a Russian, Soviet and Byelorussian landscape painter, a People’s Artist of the BSSR (1944) and RSFSR (1947), Full Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947).

He was born on January 31 (February 12), 1872, in the Mogilev Province. He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Vitold K. Byalynitsky-Birulya is regarded an unsurpassed master of impressionistic landscape. The painter's brushwork is characterized by lightness, a silver-smoky color scheme, halftones, elegance and virtuosity in the solution of general coloristic tasks. The canvases feature the most natural, everyday nature prospects. The artist also devised a special type of landscape, that is, a memorial landscape, dedicated to places associated with the life and work of prominent cultural figures.

Vitold K. Byalynitsky-Birulya is the author of nearly 2,000 artworks, the majority of which are in leading museums in Russia and Belarus. Some of the most famous of his paintings are In Early Spring (1912), Crimea. Blooming May (1912), Gray Day (between 1917 and 1920), Spring Torrents (1930), and Summerhouse in Gorki in Autumn (1924).

The margins of the block feature a portrait of Vitold K. Byalynitsky-Birulya (A. Moravov, 1908, National Museum of Art of the Republic of Belarus) against the interior of the Chaika country house; the stamp provides a copy of painting Gray Day by V. Byalynitsky-Birulya (between 1917 and 1920, State Russian Museum).

In addition to the issue of the postal block, JSC Marka will produce First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as illustrated envelopes for the postal block with labels and a First Day Cover with a cancel for Moscow and the second emission type: an imperforated postal block made on canvas-type design paper.


Design Artist: O. Savina.
Face value: 150 rubles.
Block size: 115×83 mm, stamp size in the block: 50×37 mm.
Quantity: 25 thousand blocks (first emission type); 5.3 thousand blocks (second emission type).


On May 19, a stamp dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the foundation of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after V.I. Lenin will go into postal circulation

After the victory of the October Revolution, children's organizations, groups and associations emerged in different cities of the country.

On May 19, 1922, the 2nd All-Russian Komsomol Conference took a decision to establish pioneer packs all over the country and in October of the same year, the 5th All-Russian Congress of the Russian Communist Youth Union decreed to unite all pioneer packs in Children's Communist Organization named Spartacus Young Pioneers.

On January 21, 1924, the Central Komsomol Committee took a decision to name the pioneer organization after V.I. Lenin, and in March of 1926, the official name of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after V.I. Lenin was assigned. The mass children's communist organization had an all-embracing national character and aimed at educating children as citizens fully committed to the Communist Party and the Soviet state.

The leadership of the pioneer organization was exercised by the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League.

The postage stamp provides images of symbols of the pioneer organization: badges "Be Prepared" and "Always Prepared!" against the background of a pioneer tie.

In addition to the issue of the postage stamp, JSC Marka will produce First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Artek of the Republic of Crimea, Voronezh, Kaliningrad, Penza, Ulyanovsk, as well as a maxi-card, an illustrated envelope with a postage stamp, a First Day Cover with a cancel for Moscow and a label inside.


Design Artist: I. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 60 rubles.
Stamp size: 65×32.5 mm, sheet size: 150×156 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with 8 (2×4) stamps.
Quantity: 120 thousand stamps (15 thousand sheets).


On May 19, a postcard with a commemorative stamp dedicated to the Saratov Order of Zhukov Red Banner Military Institute of the National Guard of the Russian Federation will go into postal circulation in the History of the Law Enforcement Forces of Russia series

The Saratov Order of Zhukov Red Banner Military Institute traces its history back to May 19, 1932; it succeeded to the 4th School of the Border Guard and OGPU troops. In 1937, the School was reorganized into a college; in 1973, the college became a higher college and in 1997, it was reorganized into a Military Institute.

Over a period of its work, the School has trained more than 40,000 officers, many of whom heroically fought in battles with Japanese samurai at Lake Hasan and the Khalkhin Gol River, and with German Nazi troops during the Great Patriotic War. Many graduates of the School were awarded orders and medals for courage and bravery. In 1947-1949, officers and cadets of the School participated in military operations against nationalist formations in Western Ukraine, the Baltic States and the North Caucasus. In 1980, the personnel of the School performed a special task of the Government and the Ministry of Internal Affairs on ensuring public order at the XXII Olympic Games in Moscow.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 6, 1982, the School was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its merits in training qualified personnel for internal troops.

The decree of the President of the Russian Federation of March 22, 2017, awarded the Military Institute with the Order of Zhukov.

The postcard provides images of officers, the colors and the insignia of the Federal Guard Service on the commemorative stamp; and the building and the emblem of the Institute on the main illustration.

In addition to the issue of the postcard with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka will produce special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg and Saratov.


Design Artists: S. Ulyanovsky, S. Kapranov.
Quantity: 6 thousand postcards.


On May 21, a stamp dedicated to the 1100th Anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria will go into postal circulation

Volga Bulgaria adopted Islam in 922. The most important event that marked the establishment of Islam in Bulgaria was an exchange of embassies between Almysh and Baghdad Caliph al-Muktadir. Despite the fact that Islam was quite widespread in the Volga region, the achievement of this embassy was the “diplomatic recognition” of Bulgaria as an Islamic country. Since that time, no geographical writing could get along without mentioning the Bulgars, and ties with countries of Islam developed and strengthened.

In the late 10th and early 11th centuries, Volga Bulgaria became a country of “classical Islam”. As early as from the beginning of the 10th century, the Arab-Persian historical and geographical convention stated that Bulgars had two main cities: Bolgar and Suvar. By the end of the 10th century, Bulgaria acted as a Muslim country on the international scene; numerous commercial, cultural and political ties connected it with the countries of Central and Western Asia and the Middle East.

The postage stamp provides an image of the White Mosque in Bolgar.

In addition to the issue of the postage stamp, JSC Marka will produce First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow and Kazan.


Design Artist: N. Karpova.
Face value: 50 rubles.
Stamp size: 42×30 mm, sheet size: 143×170 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with formatted margins with 15 (3×5) stamps.
Quantity: 120 thousand stamps (8 thousand sheets).


On May 25, four stamps dedicated to Gzhel will go into postal circulation in the Decorative and Applied Arts of Russia series

Gzhel is a traditional Russian craft, a special kind of ceramic painting. White and blue colors are traditionally used to produce Gzhel pottery.

At the end of the 17th century, by order of Tsar Alexey, Gzhel began to produce pharmaceutical and alchemical vessels for government buying, and in the 1740s, chemist Dmitry Vinogradov produced the first Russian porcelain articles from the local clay. Until the mid-18th century, Gzhel manufactured pottery common for that time, produced bricks, earthenware pipes, glazed tiles and primitive toys for children. Gzhel masters devised warm-colored enamel, which was used to cover majolica. In approximately 1800, the Kulikov brothers found a composition of white faience mass in the village of Volodino of the Bronnitsy District. In about 1800-1804, the first porcelain factory was founded over there. White and blue painting appeared at the Gzhel enterprises in the early 19th century. Gzhel factories began to produce faience products with only manual painting.

After the revolution, industrial production in Gzhel ceased, so, porcelain and faience items were produced by handicraftsmen.

In 1945-1949, the third stage of the Gzhel craft development began. The use of cobalt paints on white clay became predominant. A special atlas of strokes was compiled to unify the production style.

Today, several enterprises in Gzhel produce not only tableware and figurines, but also ceramic tiles, clocks, chandeliers and telephones.

The postage stamps provide images of souvenirs: a pancake plate with a cat (porcelain, 2020, Gzhel Porcelain Factory Museum); jewel box Morozko (porcelain, 1980) and a kvass jar (majolica, 1792) (both from the Gzhel Art Workshops Museum); sculpture Tea Party (porcelain, 1966, Kuskovo Estate Museum, Moscow).

In addition to the issue of the postage stamps, JSC Marka will produce First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, Veliky Novgorod and Rechitsy of the Moscow Region, as well as a maxi-card, and an illustrated envelope with postage stamps and a label inside.


Design Artist: Kh. Betredinova.
Face value: 25 rubles.
Stamp size: 30×42 mm, 42×30; sheet size: 146×175 mm, 175×146 mm.
Emission form: sheets with formatted margins with 15 (3×5) and (5×3) stamps.
Quantity: 120 thousand each stamp (10 thousand each sheet).


On May 26, a postcard with a commemorative stamp dedicated to the Crystal Compass National Award will go into postal circulation in the Geographic Projects of Russia series

The Crystal Compass National Award is the first award in the field of national geography, ecology, preservation and popularization of natural, historical and cultural heritage of Russia. In November of 2012, the award was instituted by the Krasnodar regional branch of the RGS with the support of corporate association Gazprom na Kubani.

Award winners are broken down into 11 categories, each of which envisages advanced achievements in the field of national geography and ecology, preservation and popularization of natural, historical and cultural heritage of Russia.

Throughout the period of the Award, 2,733 projects from all 85 regions of Russia and 40 countries worldwide have been submitted for the competition.

The main illustration of the postcard provides images of the logo and the statuette of the Crystal Compass National Award; the commemorative stamp features images symbolizing the geographic projects.

In addition to the issue of the postcard with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka will produce special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar.


Design Artists: S. Ulyanovsky, S. Kapranov.
Quantity: 6.5 thousand postcards.


On May 31, an envelope with a commemorative stamp dedicated to the 125th Birth Anniversary of Robert Bartini (1897- 1974), aircraft designer, will go into postal circulation

Robert Bartini (1897-1974) was an Italian aircraft designer, the author of more than 60 completed aircraft projects.

From 1923, Bartini lived and worked in the USSR. Having started as a laboratory assistant of the Scientific and Test Aerodrome on Khodynka, in just a couple of years he became the Head of the Scientific and Technical Department and as early as in 1930, the Chief Designer of the Research Institute of Civil Aviation.

Robert Bartini's experimental project, VVA-14 hydroplane, was capable of taking off and landing on water both as a conventional airplane and as a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. On September 4, 1972, the VVA-14 plane executed its first flight. It was decided to modify the first constructed aircraft, VVA-14-1M to use it as a flarecraft (14M1P). These works were performed after Bartini's death in 1974.

The commemorative stamp provides a portrait of Robert Bartini and a configuration of the Stal-7 aircraft; the main image features VVA-14 hydroplane.

In addition to the issue of the envelope with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka will produce special cancels for Moscow and Novosibirsk.


Design Artist: V. Khablovsky.
Quantity: 500 thousand envelopes.

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