Sainsbury's rename chicken kiev as chicken Kyiv amid Russian invasion of Ukraine

4 March 2022, 16:29

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's have announced they are renaming chicken kievs to match the Ukrainian spelling of the capital city, in the wake of the Russian invasion.

Sainsbury's are the first supermarket to go ahead with a rebrand, confirming new packaging will be rolled out in the coming weeks using the spelling chicken kyiv, rather than the Russian spelling kiev.

Stores will also stop selling all products that are sourced purely from Russia, including Russian standard vodka and Karpayskiye black sunflower seeds.

Rival supermarket Waitrose also said that it will remove a Russian vodka from its shelves while John Lewis will no longer sell a line of pizza oven pellets which it sources from the country.

The John Lewis Partnership, which includes Waitrose, added: "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."

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It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin last week launched a full-scale and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The attack has led to tough sanctions from Europe, the US and others, and western companies are withdrawing en masse from Russia in response.

"We stand united with the people of Ukraine. We have reviewed our product range and have decided to remove from sale all products that are 100% sourced from Russia," Sainsbury's said.

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On Friday JD Sports also announced plans to withdraw from Russia, following other clothing retailers such as Asos and Boohoo.

The move is largely symbolic as the business only makes 0.05% of its sales in Russia through its website and wholesale partners.

It also has no sites or employees in either Russia or Ukraine.

"Everyone at JD is shocked and deeply concerned by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and expresses the utmost sympathy for all Ukrainians," the company said.

It added: "The conflict in Ukraine continues to generate grave concern and we look forward to reconciliation and the return to peace within the region."

Ikea, Nike, Apple and Google have also suspended trading in the country.