"If Not Us, Then Who": How Ukrainian Mail Carriers Work Under Fire
- 15.09.2026, 12:46
"Ukrposhta" has become an essential service.
The Ukrainian State Postal Service, “Ukrposhta,” has become a vital service for residents of frontline areas. Its employees deliver food and medicine, pay out pensions, and collect utility payments, all while risking Russian attacks, according to BBC.
The head of “Ukrposhta,” Ihor Smelyansky, assesses the situation on the front lines every morning and decides where to send postal vehicles. The main danger for drivers and mail carriers is Russian drones.
“If it’s too dangerous to drive today, we won’t go. We’ll go tomorrow or head to a different location. The main thing is to be as flexible as possible,” Smelyansky said.
According to him, canceling a trip is also not an option. In remote villages, people may have no other source of food or medicine, and the road to the nearest city can be too dangerous.
At the same time, the postal service itself has become a target of Russian attacks. Since the start of the full-scale war, hundreds of “Ukrposhta” branches and vehicles have been damaged, and more than 50 employees have been killed.
BBC journalists visited one of the frontline areas in the Zaporizhzhia region along with 38-year-old post office manager Kateryna Marinych. Her branch was destroyed by a Russian drone, but she continued to visit her customers in a postal van.
“This is my job. If I don’t do this, who will?” said Marinich.
For many elderly residents, these trips have become more than just a way to get their pensions or medications. The mail carrier may be their last link to the Ukrainian state and the outside world.
“They love me; they need me. They’re waiting for me,” says Marinych.
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