23 October 2024

Most Russians know Petrovka Street in Moscow as home to the headquarters of the city's police force but these days it is also a magnet for well-heeled Muscovites...One of these is an outpost of the Italian luxury fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli. Like many major Western retail outlets, it is meant to be closed as part of the sanctions imposed on Russia after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

But a doughty Instagrammer recently revealed that the store is, in fact, open to some customers. Polina Pushkareva, 27, a New-York based Russian influencer and lingerie entrepreneur, played the role of social media detective on a trip back to her motherland...

A spokeswoman for Brunello Cucinelli said 'We fully comply with all existing regulations', adding that their local employees 'are only providing customer care and style advice to our loyal customers'.

The store Pushkareva stumbled across is just one of many Western brands that appear to be continuing to trade in Russia despite the international boycott of Putin's pariah regime sparked by his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But, as we shall see, it is unclear to what extent such operations have the blessing of their Western parents...

Take Apple. The new iPhone 16 is on prominent display at a former official Apple 're-seller'...For its part, Apple says it has 'paused all product sales in Russia' but a source at the firm admitted that there's not much they can do if a private buyer imports their devices into the country...

Something similar appears to be happening with Mothercare products...The official line was that the shops were bought by a Russian businessman, who rebranded them 'Motherbear', sold the UK retailer's remaining stock and then started bringing in less prestigious lines from places such as Belarus.

But when the Mail visited a branch of 'Motherbear', it found a wide range of babywear and toddler clothing displaying the distinctive Mothercare label...

Hugo Boss is another Western retailer that hightailed it out of Russia shortly after the invasion, which now appears to have made a return...In a statement, the firm says it is 'no longer present in Russia with its own legal entity', explaining that the re-opened stores are operated by a former wholesale partner that bought the Russian subsidiary of Hugo Boss...

Another company, Paul Smith, was exposed in January 2023 by the Mail as still, at the time, openly trading in Russia. This led to an abrupt announcement that the brand would be leaving - and, at first sight, it seemed to have done so...

British fashion giant Burberry suspended operations in Russia at the start of the war, yet the Mail found what looked - to all intents and purposes – like a fully functioning Burberry outlet, inside the Gothic-revival style TsUM department store on Petrovka, seen as the Harrods of Moscow.

'We're up to speed with the UK,' bragged an assistant pointing to a batch of recently arrived polo shirts.

Approached by the Mail, Burberry claimed it takes sanctions compliance 'very seriously' and said it will be 'holding a thorough investigation to try to discover the source of this supply to ensure this stops'.

Also intensely popular is Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley's lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur...Approached by the Mail, Agent Provocateur did not respond...

A seller of Rolls-Royce saloons operates from a ground-floor showroom at the Radisson Collection Hotel on the Moscow River...A UK-based Rolls-Royce spokesperson said: 'We do not have any authorised dealerships in Russia and ceased production and supply of motor cars for the Russian market in late February 2022... Any car that has been imported into Russia since has done so without our permission, knowledge, or support'...

As a Sky News report last month showed, high-end cars are pouring into Russia via a pass through the Caucasus mountains from Georgia. They cross at the Lars checkpoint, through which many Russians, fearing the prospect of conscription, have fled in the opposite direction.

These are mainly Range Rovers and Lamborghinis, which lorries deposit at a car park on the Georgian side of the border.

They then evade customs by being driven into Russia by individuals passing them off as their own private cars. This wheeze has seen luxury car sales from the UK to Georgia and Azerbaijan increase substantially since the war began.

But cars are finding their way into Russia via other land and sea routes, such as through the United Arab Emirates, China and even Japan.

Lamborghini said in a statement: 'We do not operate in Russia... The subsequent import and sale of pre-owned cars is not controlled by the manufacturer.'

And Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) says that an ongoing internal investigation has revealed that the cars in question were not sold to retailers in Georgia, but to those in countries that do not share a border with Russia, and that JLR continues 'to counter the efforts of third parties seeking to circumvent sanctions against Russia and Belarus'.

Clearly, many Western retailers are not complicit in the sale of their goods to Russia. They face constant challenge to prevent the importation of their products...