LCBO Stops Selling Vodka Brand Allegedly Linked to Joseph Stalin

LCBO has pulled Stalinskaya Vodka after receiving backlash from some in the Ukrainian community who believe the brand was named after the dictator.

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Image via Getty/Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket

LCBO

The LCBO has removed a brand of vodka from its shelves after an outrage over its alleged connection to late Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. 

A post shared by the Ukrainian Canada Facebook group brought the Crown corporation to task for selling Stalinskaya Vodka, claiming the brand is named after the infamous tyrant.

“At the same time when communities across Canada are discussing whether we should rename historical places to stop honouring those responsible for tragic events of Canadian history, LCBO is selling “Stalinskaya Vodka”, a product named after Joseph Stalin, a tyrant responsible for torturing and murdering millions in the Soviet GULAG camps,” reads the post.

“Stalin deported and annihilated whole ethnic communities of Chechens, Ingushes, Tatars; organized a man-made genocide Holodomor killing millions of Ukrainians; built a regime that had been mass-murdering people with contrarian options and beliefs for seventy years.”

Since the message was sent to the LCBO, the establishment has made a swift decision to stop selling the product.

The LCBO emailed the Ukrainian Canadian Congress stating that they have received a number of complaints from their customers imploring them to discontinue the product.

“We have received a number of comments from our customers and community members regarding Stalinskaya Silver Vodka,” reads the email. “As such, the LCBO undertook an additional review of the product and found that the name and label do not meet the LCBO’s standards.” 

According to Stalinskaya’s website, the name was inspired by the Russian word “stal,” which means steel. 

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