there is a huge difference between sending mail and accepting it though? yes, we have delivery to some countries suspended because there are no ways of delivering it, but that is the only reason for the suspension. refusing to accept mail from certain countries would immediately kick us out of the UPU. you can have your mail returned because your country stopped mailing there, but if it’s already in the country, it will get delivered
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@flamey …Thank you for clarifying. I have been swapping with Mike12 for a couple of years now; other Russian members maybe less regularly - but consistently. I want this suspension to be over.
That was an interesting item about mail to Kosovo. Such stories, while outside the current discussion, I find interesting. Recently, I tried to list two covers from Cuba on eBay; they blocked it. Reason being that the listing would violate the embargo put in place by Pres. John Kennedy.
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Thank you so much for the information. I was asking myselfe if this problem only effects my cards - but no I know better. I feel sorry for all those missing cards - but of course more for all those innocent people suffering.
Best wishes, Casy
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At the post office she luckily accepted my card (official one to Belarus), but maybe it will take ages that my card is getting there. The worst scenario is, that the card would be lost.
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My card took 7 days from DE to BY, this is really fast. My average to BY is 15 days.
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Hi!
Don’t worry. Royal Mail has never stopped delivering postcards to these two countries. I’ve sent 4-5 cards to Russia since the war started, and they’ve arrived and been registered, some at a faster time than normal. Send your postcards. They have every chance of reaching their destination.
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Thanks!! They are going today! If anything, to see if it helps in the “peace” efforts! 
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Yes I had a card arrive in Russia today after 21 days
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Awesome! I can’t help but think that enough “positive gestures” and good will, will eventualy win over the darkness!!
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I’ve got some info for y’all-
This really only pertains to Postcrossers in the United States
If you had cards traveling to Russia/Belarus traveling for 2 weeks or more when the postal service ban started, they will very likely still arrive because they were already in transit.
Less than that, they would be returned to you if they hadn’t already been put on a flight to Russia, and you included a return address on them. If you get a card returned, the USPS will refund your postage cost. If you didn’t have a return address, they’ll likely either be held in storage until the suspension ends, or they’ll be sent to the dead letter office/mail recovery center.
If the card was returned to you OR you drew an address but didn’t mail the card before the outgoing mail block, I’ve found that the best option is to send it to someone else to forward it on to Russia.
Deutsche Post in Germany allows people anywhere to purchase postage on their website and print it on their own printer paper or labels at home. You want the 0.95 euro stamp for a postcard from Germany to another country. I purchased a few of those, printed them on labels, put them on the postcards to Russia, and then included them with a letter to a friend in Germany who I regularly communicate with already. He will then take the postcards that are all ready to mail, and then drop them in the mail, and the Deutsche Post will then deliver the cards to Russia.
Sure, the “distance traveled” will be a little skewed, and it will be a US postcard arriving with German stamps, but it will be delivered to the intended recipient so that they can register it.
The stamps can be purchased from the Deutsche Post here- Konfigurator der Internetmarke | Shop Deutsche Post
Remember, you want the 0.95 euro stamp for international postcards.
If you put the postcard inside an envelope, it’ll be 1.10 euros up to 20g which is 7/10 of an ounce.
If it’s in an envelope and heavier than that, you’ll need the stamp worth 1.70 euros for up to 50g = 1.8oz
They also let you choose a little image to go with the barcode on the stamp.
They accept American credit cards with PayPal so you can just pay online and then print on your own paper!
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I feel really sad that USPS has stopped accepting mail to Russia. I sent an email to USPS yesterday asking how long the situation might go on. They sent me a nice reply, apologizing for the situation, but reiterated it was due to lack of transportation and restrictions, and that they had no date for resuming mail service to Russia.
A few postcards mailed in mid-February between me and Russian postcrossers arrived both ways, a couple mailed on February 23rd from here to Russia are still unregistered by intended recipients.
I have a penpal in Moscow whom I greatly enjoy exchanging letters with, and it makes me very sad that we regular people are told we cannot send mail or communicate thanks to decisions by a few people in power we have no control over.
I don’t understand why some countries can still send mail to Russia but some cannot. Is it really due to transportation restrictions or is it political? Maybe there is no answer. Anyway, I hope this situation will change soon.
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I understand the good intention, but you are not allowed to share the addresses to any other persons.
I would wait until the mail travels again, and send it then, explaining the delay.
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Here is a short answer why Finland is still able to send some mail to Russia and Belarus: “Mail delivery between Russia and Finland as well as Belarus and Finland is a statutory obligation imposed on Posti.”
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I wonder if anyone tried to just add “via GERMANY”, without adding German stamps, and see if it arrives. This is how you’d “normally” send mail to Abkhazia or South Ossetia (via Russia), Artzakh (via Armenia), Kosovo (via Albania), etc. I bet this would work.
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I think it is a rather political decision. In Germany the postal service called Deutsche Post is part of basic infrastructure that is granted by law. As far I know that is limited to letters/postcards since DHL (same company) doesn’t deliver parcels anymore to Russia and Belarus. Since anything that isn’t paper/documents has to be sent as parcel the cut is still quite serious especially since Germany has a big Russian speaking minority (around 6 Mio) and many Germans have roots to Russia or former Sowjet Union.
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It is both due to Political and Logistical reasons.
For instance, the United States has introduced economic sanctions against Russia for Political reasons. Those sanctions prevent flights from Russian airlines to the USA, and those passenger flights carry the mail with them. The lack of flights creates a logistical problem preventing the mail from getting delivered.
Other countries still have regular passenger flights to Russia, and others are close enough that they can drive the mail to Russia via truck or train.
I am still receiving mail from Russian Postcrossers because It’s my understanding that the Russian Post has a distribution center in Berlin, Germany; so I would guess that they send their mail through there to get it to the USA.
So the next question is why doesn’t the US Postal Service simply send mail to Russia via Germany? This could be for political reasons, constraints on the logistic network, perhaps there’s not enough cargo space availability to hold all of the mail for Russia in addition to all of the mail that they already transport to other countries in Europe. To my knowledge, there’s no official answer on that.
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Very good point- that would be a problem for the official cards. It could still work for direct swaps, pen pals, etc though I suppose.
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