Russians mob Victoria's Secret for lingerie before store shuts down over Ukraine invasion

Victoria's Secret is the latest western company to pull production and sales from Russia following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and shoppers scrambled to pick up the last of the merchandise before the store closed for good.

The lingerie store announced on Wednesday their online store was shut down and they would be closing all stores from March 10th onward via social media. As the announcement hit Russia, citizens flocked to their nearest store.

Among the list of western clothing companies pulling out from Russia are H&M, Canada Goose, Adidas, and more. Other tech, entertainment, and food service companies have stopped sales in the country too.

Videos of the long lines at Victoria's Secret in Moscow and St. Petersburg went viral on social media on Thursday.

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Twitter user @v_Oleksandra criticized Russian citizens' efforts to obtain all the merchandise they could before stores closed for the foreseeable future. "I've read in the news that @VictoriasSecret will stop work in Russia, and that's why it's a big queue in their shop. It's kinda strange. The rockets are flying a short way off my house. I am sick of loud explosions. But Russian citizens have a problem buying underpants."

Shopper in line for the store expressed their annoyance with closing stores but had mixed opinions about the war in Ukraine according to The Evening Standard.

"Putin has gone mad. Our lives are being wrecked because of the sanctions against him.” A 22-year-old woman said.

Another woman said Ukraine needed to 'get rid of the Nazis', citing the narrative the Russian government is telling citizens.

Either way, citizens are suffering at the hands of Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.

Other stores like Uniqlo were hit with long lines of people panic-buying clothing as news hit that stores would be closing abruptly.

More western companies are expected to pull sales and production from Russia in the coming weeks.

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