British retailer removes Russian nesting doll after Ukrainian woman's complaint

Tetiana Zakaliuzhna said she first noticed the £8 item, marketed as a “Wooden Stacking Doll,” in a social media post on October 21. Rather than simply criticize the retailer online, she decided to submit a formal complaint.

In her letter, Zakaliuzhna explained that she had been unable to return to her home in Ukraine for nearly five years. Her husband has been serving in Ukraine's military since February 2022, while their children have been growing up without their father at home.

She also cited British media reporting and United Nations findings about Ukrainian children killed during Russia's invasion, questioning why a Russian cultural symbol was being sold as part of the retailer's Christmas collection.

According to Zakaliuzhna, John Lewis initially acknowledged the sensitivity of her concerns and referred the complaint to the relevant teams. The company subsequently sent several updates while reviewing the matter.

On November 11, after approximately two weeks of correspondence, she received a reply confirming the product had been removed.

“I wanted to confirm that this item is no longer in the range,” the company wrote, according to the message she shared.

Zakaliuzhna said the retailer had also forwarded her concerns to its senior buying team for consideration when planning future collections.

She checked the company's website and found that the product page was no longer accessible.

“I burst into tears,” she wrote on Facebook.

Zakaliuzhna stressed that she could not establish whether her complaint had directly prompted the decision.

“I don't know whether it was my letter that caused this decision, and I don't want to take credit for something I can't confirm,” she said.

The response arrived on Remembrance Day, when the UK honors those who died in military service. Zakaliuzhna said the date held particular significance as she remembered British volunteers killed defending Ukraine.

She subsequently sent John Lewis a thank-you letter.

“Of course, one nesting doll disappearing from sale won't give me my home back, bring back the Ukrainians who were killed or bring my husband home from the front,” she wrote.

“But do you know what it gave me back today? The feeling that our pain has not become ordinary background noise for the rest of the world, that we are still being heard, and that even one Ukrainian woman's voice can be heard by a major company.”

John Lewis has not publicly explained why the product was removed, and the available correspondence does not establish whether Zakaliuzhna's complaint was the deciding factor.