The Russian products being removed by UK supermarkets

A number of UK supermarkets have removed Russian products from their shelves to stand against the war in Ukraine.

On Friday (4 March) Sainsbury’s announced it will ban certain items to stand “united with the people of Ukraine”.

Similar announcements were made on the same day by retailers Waitrose and Co-op as Russia continues to attack its neighbour with fighting across the country.

The war is estimated to have killed hundreds of civilians and displaced more than a million people since it began.

Here’s which products have been banned by UK supermarkets following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Which items have been banned by Sainsbury’s?

Sainsbury’s announced it would remove from its stores all products “that are sourced 100% from Russia”.

This includes  Russian Standard vodka and Karpayskiye black sunflower seeds.

The supermarket had also considered removing JJ Whitley products from its shelves too. But production is moving to the UK at the end of this month.

The Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: "We support their announcement earlier in the week that they are moving all production to Chorley, and will therefore continue to sell those products."

Which products have been removed by other supermarkets?

A spokesperson for Aldi said the supermarket had removed Russian-sourced vodka from its shelves.

Asda confirmed it will stop selling products that originate from Russia but did not name specific items.Co-op Food has taken Russian Standard vodka off sale and Morrisons has announced the same measure.

John Lewis Partnership, which runs the department store John Lewis and supermarket Waitrose, said it was removing products made in Russia from sale.

Russian Vodka will stop being sold in Waitrose and one line of pizza oven pellets in John Lewis.

What have UK supermarkets said?

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We have reviewed our product range and have decided to remove from sale all products that are 100% sourced from Russia.

“This means that from today we will no longer sell two products – Russian Standard vodka and Karpayskiye black sunflower seeds.”

The company John Lewis Partnership said: “We’re working with our suppliers to review products that have components of Russian origin and will be seeking to mitigate further exposure to the region.”

In a statement the Co-op said: “In response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and as a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we have taken the decision to remove from sale Russian-made vodka.

“It will not be stocked for the foreseeable future.”

While a Tesco spokesperson said it would not be “buying products from businesses that are wholly Russian owned”.

A version of this story was originally published on our sister title, NationalWorld.