Ukrainian women call for sex boycott against Russian men
Don't Give it to a Russian campaign part of a broader boycott against Russia
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Your support makes all the difference.A group of Ukrainian women are calling for a sex boycott against Russian men as the diplomatic crisis between the two countries continues unabated.
The Facebook group Don't Give it to a Russian was launched last week and calls on Ukraine's "female heroes" to "fight the enemy by whatever means". In this case, denying sex to Russian men.
The campaign was named after a verse from Kateryna, a poem by Ukrainian national hero Taras Shevchenko: "Fall in love, O dark-browed maidens, but not with the Moskaly (Russians)."
Katerina Venzhik, one of the organisers and chief editor of the news website Delo.UA, told The Independent: "We've used this campaign to draw attention to the chaos done by the Russians in Crimea; kidnapping, limiting the rights of people, preventing journalists from doing their work... And yes, Ukrainian women prefer Ukrainian men."
She added: "We believe that in the context of military occupation it is silly to continue to assert that all men are brothers. What Russia is doing in Ukraine is terrible, but the world sees their actions primarily through the prism of the pro-Putin propaganda."
The sex boycott has been met with scepticism in Russia with some bloggers mocking the campaign.
Egor Prosvirnin, chief editor of the Russian nationalist website Sputnik & Pogrom, described participants as prostitutes.
Robert Shlegel, a Russian member of parliament, tweeted a photoshopped photograph of Valeriya Novodvorskaya, a longtime Putin critic, wearing a Don't Give it to a Russian sex boycott T-shirt.
He said: "With one photo, Valeriya Novodvorskaya has killed the entire Ukrainian sex-boycott."
Yesterday, leaders of the G7 cancelled a planned G8 summit in Russia in an effort to isolate President Vladimir Putin until the Kremlin "changes course". Instead, world leaders of G7 nations will meet in Brussels without Russia in June.
In a statement, the group reiterated their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and warned the G7 is "ready to intensify" sanctions against Russia's wider economy if Mr Putin does not de-escalate tensions in the region.
So far, the West has abstained from imposing tougher sanctions such as arm embargoes and bans on energy imports, which would affect the heart of the Russian economy.
Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the Kremlin does not "cling" to the G8 format and described it as an "informal club" where no one "hands out membership cards".
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Andriy Deshchytsya, warned that the risk of military intervention remains high.
Nato's top military commander Philip Breedlove said the Russian army deployed on its border with Ukraine is " very, very sizeable and very, very ready" .
President Putin insists he has no such ambitions, but both the White House and David Cameron expressed concern about Russia's territorial expansion.
Yesterday, Ukraine's acting President ordered the country's troops to leave Crimea fearing for their safety.
Over the weekend, Russian forces seized Ukrainian ships and military installations in Crimea, consolidating its control over the peninsula it officially annexed last week following a controversial referendum considered illegal by Kiev and the West.
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