Calls to boycott Coca-Cola, McDonald's and PepsiCo are growing as the firms continue to trade in Russia.
Three Ukrainian supermarket chains have removed Coca-Cola products from shelves while the drinks giant is doing business in Russia, amid the country's invasion of Ukraine.
The hashtags #BoycottCocaCola, #BoycottPepsi and #BoycottMcDonalds were trending on Twitter over the weekend. In a tweet with more than 50,000 likes and 15,000 shares, Dragons Den investor Deborah Meaden posted: "Can you stop drinking Coca Cola please. They are refusing to withdraw from Russia. Let’s show them some people power."
Read next: 'This is already a world war. Putin wants us to disappear from the map'
Major corporations including Apple and Netflix have halted operations in Russia since President Vladimir Putin launched a brutal attack on Ukraine and its civilians.
Ukrainian supermarket chain Novus said it had stopped selling Coca-Cola products – including Coke, Fanta, Schweppes and BonAqua – and branded the company “shameless” in working "for the invaders in full strength”.
“Our supermarket chain no longer cooperates with the Coca-Cola company, which continues to operate in the territory of the aggressor,” said Novus. “We are abandoning all products belonging to the brand.”
Another Ukraine retailer, Fozzy Group, said it was pulling products from shelves and stopping all deliveries. And a third, Varus, joined the boycott due to the “official position of the Coca-Cola company to continue its activities in the market of the aggressor".
Coca-Cola said last Thursday it would donate €1m to the Red Cross movement in Ukraine as well as "more than €550,000" to Red Cross organisations in neighbouring Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
“While these are our actions today, we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” said the company, which did not mention Russia in the statement.
Neither McDonald’s nor PepsiCo have released statements on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to The Independent.
Thomas DiNapoli, who manages the New York State Common Retirement Fund, wrote to firms including McDonald’s and PepsiCo on Friday, warning they face “significant and growing legal, compliance, operational, human rights and personnel, and reputational risks” by continuing to do business in Russia.
A boycott from them would play a major role in “condemning Russia’s role in fundamentally undermining the international order”, he wrote, Reuters reports.
The letter was sent to other major businesses including beauty firms, Estee Lauder Cosmetics and Coty, confectionery retailer Mondelez, and personal care giant Kimberly-Clark.
McDonald's has 847 restaurants in Russia, accounting for around nine per cent of its total revenues, while Russia made up around four per cent of PepsiCo's global revenues last year, according to The Independent.
Social media platform TikTok has blocked livestreaming and uploading in Russia after the Kremlin banned spreading of what it deems to be fake news about its invasion of Ukraine.
Netflix suspended its services in the country on Sunday, saying the move reflected “circumstances on the ground”. The company previously said it would not air Russian state TV channels.
It comes as global broadcasters including the BBC and CNN have temporarily suspended reporting in Russia to protect their journalists from the Kremlin's criminalisation of independent reporting on the war.
What is happening where you live? Find out by adding your postcode or visit InYourArea
