“Ukrposhta” purchased chicken drumsticks to protect mail carriers from dogs

Ukraine’s state-owned postal company “Ukrposhta” once purchased chicken legs for its mail carriers to use as protection against dog attacks.

This was revealed by the company’s CEO, Ihor Smilianskyi, on the YouTube channel “Mom’s Hacker Podcast.”

According to him, in the event of a dog attacking a postal worker, they were supposed to distract the aggressive animal by throwing a piece of meat.

“It was a safety measure. When a postal worker is walking and a dog comes running at her, she should pull out a chicken leg and throw it so the dog gets distracted—that’s it,” Smilianskyi said.
“When I was speaking to McDonald’s managers, I told them: ‘Look, you make chicken burgers. But what about the legs? We need the legs,’” he added.

Smilianskyi also said that the company collects and sells revolvers from the Russian Empire era in an effort to “destroy the Russian Empire,” and that Ukrposhta spent a year getting government approval for this initiative.

“We no longer buy chicken legs—we now have more modern defense tools. We have pepper spray now. But before, chicken legs were considered a more eco-friendly solution,” Smilianskyi concluded.

Ukrposhta is known for its controversial purchases, often sparking public debates. For example, the company previously announced plans to arm some employees with firearms.

In December 2020, Ukrposhta also spent millions on booking services for air, rail, and bus tickets.