The products being removed by UK supermarkets after the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Vodka is among the products being targeted

A number of UK supermarkets have removed Russian products from their shelves in response to the war being waged in Ukraine.

Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are among the British retailers who have taken action as Russia continues to attack its neighbour with strikes on cities and fighting across the country.

It comes as a growing number of companies move to cut ties with Russia in a stand against the war - which is estimated to have killed hundreds of civilians and displaced more than a million since it was launched last week.

On Friday, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said the supermarket stood “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,” they said.

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

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

“This means that, from today, we will no longer sell two products - one Russian Vodka in Waitrose and one line of pizza oven pellets in John Lewis,” the company said in a statement.

“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.”

A spokesperson for Aldi told The Independent the supermarket chain had removed Russian-sourced vodka from its shelves.

The Co-op said on Friday its supermarkets were making the same move. “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,” it said in a statement.

Asda confirmed it will stop selling products that originate from Russia in light of the invasion of Ukraine, but did not name specific items.

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