Ukraine issues ‘We Are Waiting!’ stamps for prisoners and missing persons

Ukraine introduced the two-stamp issue “We Are Waiting!” on Independence Day, 24 August 2026, in honour of Ukrainian prisoners of war, people missing under special circumstances and their families. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Ukrposhta held an official launch and special-cancellation ceremony, with additional cancellations conducted in Ukrainian regions.

The issue comprises “Stork. Freedom” by Nikita Titov and “Herald of Goodness” by Andrii Yermolenko. Yermolenko’s design depicts a prisoner behind barbed wire feeding a titmouse, contrasting confinement with compassion and dignity. The official product listing identifies his stamp as catalogue number 2252, with denomination U, a size of 40.5 by 26 millimetres and six stamps in a 105-by-128-millimetre sheet. Its announced printing is 360,000.

The designs originated in a nationwide competition launched in April by Ukrposhta and the Coordination Headquarters. Organizers received 195 submissions from across Ukraine, selected seven finalists and put them to a public vote in the Diia application. A total of 328,788 people participated. Titov’s and Yermolenko’s works were both taken forward for the postal release, turning a public design process into a paired issue.

The ceremony brought together government bodies, civic organizations, artists, families of captives and missing people, and former prisoners. A Kyiv display of portraits showed servicemen who had returned from captivity. In this context, the stamps function as circulating messages of remembrance and hope as well as postal objects, with used covers and regional special cancellations likely to document how the national issue was presented in different places.

Ukrposhta sells the two sheets separately and as a postal set with a first-day cover. The official product pages provide detailed specifications for the individual designs, but availability may vary. Collectors distinguishing the paired release should retain the separate titles, artists and catalogue numbers rather than describing the two designs as a single stamp.