It may be helpful to alert DX’ers that Ukraine has suspended post to Crimea and the City of Sevastopol post codes 95000 – 99999 are affected. Mail is being returned endorsed “UPU IB Circular No 71” The UPU explanation for this is below.
The world’s postal administrations have been advised that they should no longer dispatch international mail addressed to the Crimea region via Ukrainian Post.
The Universal Postal Union passed on a message from the national postal service of the Ukraine last week confirming that it has difficulties delivering postal items to locations in the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
The guidance comes following the annexation of the territory by Russia in the wake of a local referendum described by the United Nations as “invalid”.
The UPU confirmed that it passed on the message to all its members, the postal administrations of 192 countries, stating that they should suspend dispatch of international postal items addressed to the Ukrainian postal codes 95000-99999.
The UPU said Ukrainian Post would inform global postal operators about the resumption of deliveries “as soon as the situation changes”.
According to the UPU, Ukraine received about 20m letters and more than 2.5m parcels from abroad in 2012.
Commenting on the situation, UPU director general Bishar A Hussein said he hoped the parties involved would soon find an operational solution.
UPDATE – I am now aware that mail to the affected posted codes 95000 – 99999 has been re-assigned an extra digit on the code and is handled Via Russian Federation.
