Hello!
I sent a postcard in an envelope to Russia on February 28th, which was just returned to me with a stamp that reads “Service temporarily suspended. Return to sender.” I only send postcards in envelopes when it is requested, so this has never happened to me before. Is there a proper way to report this to postcrossing? I sent a message to the intended recipient, but didn’t think it was fair to ask her to register it, since she will never receive it. I’d love to hear if there’s a “right” way to address this.
Thanks,
Lara
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Lara-
You received this message because mail from the United States to the Russian Federation has been suspended. That being so, any mail you send to the Russian Federation will bounce back to you because of the suspension.
Hopefully, you have saved the envelope with the card. Bring it to your post office and they will refund your postage cost. Sadly, because of this conflict, the address you drew will go into “expire.” There is little you can do about this. And no…you should not ask them to register your card.
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Thanks! I knew the mail suspension was the reason for the return; I just wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be reported to Postcrossing. 
If you check the Postal Monitor by PostCrossing, the Russian Federation is on the list.
I don’t think so. 
Usually in cases like this, the Postcrossing team advises to hang on to the card until your postal service resumes delivery to the intended country.
Btw, since Germany is still sending to Russia, I could forward your envelope if you put it in another envelope and send it to me.
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Just out of curiosity, for postcards sent to Russia, what happens when they cannot be returned to sender due to suspended service?
Before doing this, the receiver should be asked if it’s ok for them.
The addresses are only given to the sender, not to be sent to other persons, even though I understand the good idea
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Usually the mail is stored (when it cannot be returned) and forwarded once the service is being continued.
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@mezzanine2 very good question I had an envelope with pc for someone in Russia, it was returned to me today ….
I have notified the lady…now if we obtain a name for a Russian P.C to send, what do we do?
You won’t, because postal monitor says Canada can’t send to Russia.
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I was very surprised to find a card in my box today, mailed from there on May 17. I didnt realize USPS was accepting mail from Russia
They can send to us, we just can’t send to them.
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Is this still accurate? Bah humbug.
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I sent a card to US on May 9 - it got registered on June 1.
I’ve been actively getting Russian mail. Quickly too. So far none have gotten mine.
Thats because the US postal service is not accepting mail to Russia and hasnt since they invaded Ukraine. If mail has your address it will be returned, otherwise I think it gets tossed. Postcrossing is not giving any Russian addresses to US members per the postal restrictions
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I’ve been getting Russian mail for the past few weeks (other platforms). We can GET I just do not believe we can SEND.
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Thats correct
Hello! I am looking for some advice with a problem that is most likely just unlucky and won’t be resolved, but I thought I would ask for your thoughts.
I was assigned a post card to a country that I cannot send mail to (USA → Belarus) and just got the post card returned by the USPS telling me the mail service is suspended. I understand there might not have been a suspension at the time I mailed it, but now there is one.
It looks like I actually mailed the card three days after I was assigned the address (assigned May 6 and sent May 9). By now the card is expired; I received this return to sender message today.
I mostly feel bad that the other person is not receiving a post card from me. Is there anything that can be done or should I just call this one a loss?