FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In a show of support for Ukraine, several bars and restaurants are no longer selling Russian vodka, but they’re not the only ones.
Russian-made vodka and other products are now gone from the shelves at all Total Wine stores.
It shows a strong stand amid the widely unpopular and deadly invasion into Ukraine by Russian troops.
“I think it’s a good idea, I think you got a put some pressure on them,” said customer Mike Young. “I don’t know how much it’ll do, but it can’t hurt, right?”
Customers shopping at a Fort Lauderdale Total Wine location were still met with plenty of vodka choices in store aisles, next to signs which read “We will no longer serve Russian made products.”
A different establishment in Miami, Shots Bar in the Wynwood area, is doing the same.
They posted a message on Instagram saying, “We pulled all Russian spirits.” Their message ended with the hashtag #STANDWITHUKRAINE.
“There are a lot of oligarchs in Russia who are losing a lot of money, and some of them are gonna lose money because of the vodka, so and then they’ll put pressure on Putin,” Young said.
The business ties with Russia are also being severed among some major oil companies.
The parent companies of BP and Shell have announced they too have cut operational ties with the country run by Vladimir Putin.