Russia retaliated yesterday against new EU and US sanctions over Ukraine by banning most fruit and vegetable imports from Poland, and warned that an EU-wide ban could be next. The move could cost Poland—a former Soviet satellite and the world’s biggest apple exporter—access to its biggest market. Last year Poland exported €438 million ($587 million) worth of apples, 56 percent of which went to Russia.
In response, Poles started a social media campaign that tweaks Russian president Vladimir Putin and encourages people to eat Polish apples. The idea seems to have started with a Polish business journalist (paywall), and it quickly spread to prominent politicians, one of the country’s largest supermarket chains, the head of the president’s National Security Bureau, and at least two Polish embassies.
For more anti-Kremlin apple-eating selfies, follow the hashtag #JedzJabłka on Twitter or visit the Facebook page Jedz Jablka Na Zlosc Putinowi (Eat Apples to Annoy Putin).