Russians ‘panic buy’ Ikea furniture as Kremlin decries the ‘cancel culture’ of sanctions

Forget banks, Russians are making a run at IKEA as the war with Ukraine intensifies. See the photos.

Russians are making a run on Swedish meatballs and rickety yet elegantly-designed dining tables as Moscow blasts the “cancel culture” of US sanctions.

As western companies like Ikea and Airbnb announced they were pulling out of Russia, shoppers began lining up in long queues outside Ikea in St Petersburg for their last chance at scoring the iconic homeware and haberdashery.

Russian news outlet Meduza shared a video inside the store a day before it closed as people franticly shoved items into giant trolleys, while over in Ukraine people franticly ran for cover.

“Forget the run on the banks. Russians are making a Run On Ikea before it shutters nationwide tomorrow in the latest corporate withdrawal from the country,” wrote editor Kevin Rothrock.

Forget the run on the banks. Russians are making a RUN ON IKEA before it shutters nationwide tomorrow in the latest corporate withdrawal from the country. https://t.co/N7UhrtI1nz

— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) March 3, 2022

The Swedish furniture company announced they would close 17 outlets across Russia, affecting 15,000 workers. The location in Tyoply Stan in Moscow saw record numbers, with employees warning shoppers the wait in line would be at least three hours before it closed its doors.

“The war has both a huge human impact and is resulting in serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions,” Ikea said in a statement. “Which is why the company groups have decided to temporarily pause Ikea operations in Russia.”

Airbnb is the latest to announce the suspension of operations in Russia, following Nike, Apple, and others.

Russia’s foreign intelligence director Sergei Naryshkin suggested the West was trying to engage in “cancel culture” by sanctioning his country into destruction following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The masks have been dropped. The west is not just trying to surround Russia with a new Iron Curtain,” he said on the website of Russian intelligence agency SVR, via Russian site RIA Novosti.

“We are talking about attempts to destroy our state — its ‘cancellation,’ as it is now customary to say in a ‘tolerant’ liberal-fascist environment.”

He also rejected the idea that what was happening was a new Cold War or Cold War 2.0, now that the war has come to the “very borders of our Motherland”.

“So for us, it is definitely not ‘cold’, but quite ‘hot’,” he added.

His comments came after the US joined the European Union in ramping up its sanctions against Oligarchs and Russian companies this week, including the seizure of mega-yachts and the closure of airspace to Russian aircraft.

Originally published as Russians ‘panic buy’ Ikea furniture as Kremlin decries the ‘cancel culture’ of sanctions