Russian vodka and other alcoholic products can no longer be sold in the City of Bellevue following an executive order issued by Mayor Charlie Cleves on Monday.
The city’s Facebook page showed photos of the mayor posing with workers at the Party Source and One Stop Liquors, two businesses in the city, as they remove Russian vodka from their shelves.
The executive order follows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a move that has drawn harsh rebuke and, more significantly, debilitating sanctions from the international community.
“We want to do what we can to support Ukraine in its effort to fight off the Russian aggression that threatens a free democracy,” Cleves said on the city’s Facebook post. “If we all do a little, that adds up to a lot.”
The City stated that the Party Source was removing its Russian-made products and donating profits from the sale of Ukrainian-made vodka to Matthew 25 Ministries, to support Ukraine.
Other government leaders and business owners across the country have made similar moves to eliminate the sale of Russian-made liquor amid the war in eastern Europe.
A CNN report noted that the moves are largely symbolic and may even miss their intended target, Russia. For example, the report said that Russian vodka brand Stoli may be Russian in name only: it’s distilled in Latvia and its headquarters is in Luxembourg.