"Do not buy Russian goods!" () or "Boycott Russian goods!" () is a

nonviolent resistance Nonviolent resistance, or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, construct ...

campaign to boycott Russian commerce in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The protest started on 14 August 2013 as a reaction to a Russian trade embargo against Ukrainian goods. It was organized by Vidsich on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. The campaign expanded to mass distribution of leaflets, posters, and stickers in over 45 cities and towns. Having faded by the beginning of the

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

demonstrations in November 2013, it was renewed on 2 March 2014, during the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

and the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Causes

The campaign began as a response to a series of economic wars launched by Russia against Ukraine, including the "Meat War", the "Cheese War", and the "Chocolate War". On 14 August 2013, the Federal Customs Service of Russia listed all Ukrainian

exporters An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ' ...

as companies "at risk", resulting in a

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

of Ukrainian products

import An importer is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. Import is part of the International Trade which involves buying and receivin ...

ed to Russia. A backup developed at

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

involving hundreds of truckloads and railcars of Ukrainian goods.

Boycotts

In Ukraine

On 22 August 2013, activists held a protest near the

Presidential Administration of Ukraine Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

. The campaign continued with a mass distribution of leaflets, posters and stickers in more than 45 cities and towns in Ukraine.

Caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

s of Russian

Matryoshka doll Matryoshka dolls (), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name ''Matryoshka'' is a diminutive form of ''Matryosha'' (), i ...

s have been used in the campaign. The campaign began to decline with the beginning of

. On 2 March 2014, activists used

social networks A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of meth ...

to announce the renewal of the boycott on any goods and services that benefit Russian companies. The intention was to keep Ukrainian money from going to Russia where it could be used to support the Russian military. The boycott was launched in response to the Crimean crisis and the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. In March 2014, activists began organizing

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people that assembles suddenly in a public place, performs for a brief time, then quickly disperses, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and/or artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organize ...

s in supermarkets to urge customers not to buy Russian goods and to boycott Russian

gas stations A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

, banks, and concerts. In April 2014, some

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

s in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, and

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

stopped showing Russian films. By April 2014, some Russian manufacturers changed their barcodes from Russian to Ukrainian. Titled ''Boycott Invaders'', an Android app was developed to identify products from Russia, including those disguising their origin. In the summer of 2014, activists in

began organizing more flash mobs and other demonstrations in Russian restaurants and coffeehouses. Towards the end of August 2014, activists started a campaign called " Boycott Russian Films" against Russian movies and serials on Ukrainian media space. Andriy Dlihach, CEO of the "Advanter Group", urged consumers not to boycott Russian products, but to concentrate on buying Ukrainian goods instead. On August 19, 2015, activists of the "Vidsich" movement threatened to launch a campaign to boycott

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

during a rally near the corporation's office in Kyiv. A discrimination case against a Ukrainian-speaking journalist who was not hired because of language requirements sparked the campaign. Activists also criticized that Nestlé still sold products manufactured by Russia in Ukraine. In September, flash mobs called "Russian Kills!" took place in Kyiv against these products.

International spread

Beginning in March 2014, the boycott spread to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, all major Danish supermarkets stopped selling Russian goods. In the United States, the states of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, where state governments control liquor sales, announced that they would remove Russian-made vodka from sale. Similar measures were also called for in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

also ordered Russian-made products removed from its

Liquor Control Board of Ontario The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO, ) is a Crown agency that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislative Assembly through the minister of finance. It wa ...

stores, with similar measures enacted in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

and

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

Banking

The US Department of State added many Russian banks to its sanction list on 24 February 2023 in response to its aggression toward Ukraine. SWIFT, a key messaging tool for financial trading, has disconnected Russia from its services as well. Sanctions have caused Russians to rely on their currency and experience long lines at ATM machines. No runs on banks have been reported. Those who rely on international travel have experienced inconvenience over the sanctions. Russian issued credit cards by Visa and Mastercard do not work. They rely on Mir.

Results

Sales of Russian goods in Ukraine decreased by 35–50% in the spring of 2014. In May 2014, Ukrainian supermarkets began to abandon the procurement of Russian goods. Delivery of goods from Russia fell by a third. In April 2014, it was reported that producers from the Russian Federation were changing Russian barcodes with

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

s of other countries, in an effort to circumvent the boycott. Moreover, several instances of illegal masking of Russian products were found in some Ukrainian supermarkets. From January to May 2014, according to

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...

ratings, banks with Russian capital in Ukraine lost more than 50% of their deposits. According to comparison test of Russian

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

watching ratings in Ukraine for 2013 (sample by GfK) and for 2014 (sample by Nielsen), total ratings dropped by a third. As of mid of May 2014, it is known that Ukrainian supermarkets have started to massively abandon purchases of Russian goods. Supply amounts from Russian Federation decreased by a third.

Public opinion

According to

Taylor Nelson Sofres Kantar TNS is a global market research and market information group with offices in over 80 countries. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the firm was acquired by WPP Group for £1.6 billion in ...

(TNS) Internet research in Ukraine, in March–April 2014, 52% of Ukrainians were positive or "rather positive" about the boycott of Russian products. According to the survey, 39% of Ukrainians were involved in the boycott. A further survey campaign revealed that from July to August 2014, support for the boycott increased from 52% to 57%, and participation in the boycott increased from 40% to 46% of the population. According to data reported by TSN, in September 2014, 50% of Ukrainians had joined the boycott.

Criticism

The boycott was not supported by Ukrainian retail offices of

Auchan Auchan () is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company. With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% ...

Ukraine and Metro Cash and Carry. The companies explained that this was due to their apolitical vision. Ukrainian and Russian-speaking blogger Danylo Vakhovskyi said that he consciously uses Russian internet services and will continue to do so, because it is a way to support "the creation of a favorable environment for entrepreneurship" in Russia. Vakhovskyi admitted that such usage was "not patriotic", but still considered his support of entrepreneurs as providing opportunities to change the world for the better.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Do not buy Russian goods movement Ukrainian responses to the Russo-Ukrainian War Sanctions and boycotts during the Russo-Ukrainian War Direct democracy 2013 establishments in Ukraine 2014 in Ukraine Anti-Russian sentiment in Europe Slogans Boycotts of Russia Vidsich Nonviolence