Ukraine's IT 'Army' Pressuring Western Firms To Quit Russia Has Success

A growing number of major brands have ceased doing business with Russia, due, in large measure to internet pressure generated by Ukraine's "IT Army,' which has launched internet and social media efforts to isolate Russia. 

The campaign has been more successful than anticipated thanks to consumers' growing reliance on the internet for news and points of view. JL 

Patience Haggin and Suzanne Vranica report in the Wall Street Journal, image Keith Skracocic AP:

300,000 volunteers have joined the effort, and their social-media posts are reaching some 100 million global users daily. Johnson & Johnson announced on March 29 it had suspended sales of its personal-care products in Russia. McDonald’s said last month it would temporarily close its locations in Russia. British oil giant Shell PLC said that it would withdraw from its involvement in Russian oil and natural gas, Many other companies that have been the focus of the efforts have suspended or paused operations in Russia.

Last month, a Twitter TWTR -1.82% ▼ user posted a message taking aim at Johnson & Johnson JNJ 0.44% ▲ for continuing to do business in Russia after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Stop cooperating with the aggressor country. Show your position, abandon the Russian market,” user @AnnDmi3 tweeted on March 11, tagging the healthcare-products giant.

It wasn’t an isolated tweet. The post was part of a social-media pressure campaign coordinated by Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation. The ministry has organized what it calls its Internet Army: a group of volunteers who are helping Ukraine fight the cyber and information war, including many social-media volunteers who post messages singling out Western companies doing business in Russia, said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of Digital Transformation.

 

About 300,000 volunteers have joined the effort, and their social-media posts are reaching some 100 million global users daily, Mr. Fedorov said in an interview. In recent days, the group has turned its attention to foreign government officials, asking them to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons, he said.

The ministry has given volunteers instructions to put pressure on several dozen major Western companies and has provided sample language for social-media posts through a channel on the chat app Telegram, according to a Wall Street Journal review of the Telegram channel.

Johnson & Johnson announced on March 29 it had suspended sales of its personal-care products in Russia, but said it would continue to sell medicine and medical devices there. The company had no further comment.

Another company targeted by the ministry, McDonald’s Corp., said last month it would temporarily close its locations in Russia. Many other companies that have been the focus of the efforts have suspended or paused operations in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine began. The reasons they have given for the pullbacks range from the difficulty of doing business amid sanctions to concerns about safety of staff.

None of the companies on the receiving end of volunteers’ posts have cited the social-media pressure as a factor behind their decision.

French supermarket giant Auchan Retail International SA, which has stores in many European countries, was a recent target of the Internet Army.

“One of the most consistent and intransigent companies that refuses to leave russia is @AUCHAN_France. On the weekend, I urge you to go to the nearest Auchan store in your city and picket it up. If you cannot do so, please refrain from shopping there,” tweeted Kyiv-based Twitter user Artem Stelmashov on April 9.

An Auchan spokesman declined to comment. Auchan has previously told The Wall Street Journal that the company opposes the war in Ukraine but sees it as Auchan’s job to provide food for Russia’s population.

Other companies the volunteers posted about said they had good reason for continuing some operations in Russia, including to supply essential products or medicines and continue charitable work.

British oil giant Shell PLC said March 8 that it would withdraw from its involvement in Russian oil and natural gas, citing humanitarian reasons. A Shell spokesman said the social-media posts hadn’t influenced its actions.

The Internet Army sometimes tags influential people in posts, hoping to enlist them to advance Ukraine’s cause. Top media figures were targeted—including Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni, Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray, New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet, Los Angeles Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida and USA Today Editor-in-Chief Nicole Carroll—partly based on the idea they could refuse to accept ads from companies operating in Russia.

Reuters said it hasn’t engaged with that campaign. The New York Times said it doesn’t take part in organized boycotts. USA Today said it is committed to reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Journal and the Los Angeles Times declined to comment.

Because the volunteers often use the same text and images, their activity can look a bit like the work of automated “bots.” However, the Internet Army doesn’t use bots, a person involved in the effort said.

The campaign isn’t the only effort to harness the power of social media to shame companies into severing ties with Russia. Boycott Russia, founded by U.K.-based advisory firm Highgate, is one of several activist groups following a similar playbook. Others include UA Telegram Army, Squeezing Putin and Exit Russia.

“Cutting all ties with Russia and cutting off all funding is the only way to help stop the atrocious war Russia launched against the Ukrainian people,” said Valeriya Melnichuk, a vice president at Highgate and one of Boycott Russia’s founders. Ms. Melnichuk is a Ukrainian living in London.

Boycott Russia began to gain traction on March 1 when Wladimir Klitschko, a Ukrainian former professional boxer, tweeted to his 791,000 followers, “Stop funding Putin’s war. By buying Russian products, doing business with Russia you invest in gruesome war against Ukrainian people.”

Boycott Russia’s Twitter account has more than 4,500 followers. Its Instagram page, which spits out posters that criticize companies, has over 11,000 followers.

 

The group’s leaders include Natalie Jaresko, an American-born Ukrainian who served as Ukraine’s minister of finance from 2014 until 2016, and Dmytro Dubilet, a former minister of the cabinet of ministers of Ukraine. Boycott Russia said it has managed to enlist about 7,000 volunteers from around the world to help with its efforts.

On March 23, Boycott Russia tweeted a message that criticized Nestlé SA for continuing to sell some products in Russia, although the company had already removed brands such as KitKat and Nesquik from the country. “Continuing to finance war criminals harms your reputation,” said the tweet, which tagged the company.

Nestlé declined to comment. On March 29, the company said it would scale back what it sells in Russia and stopped making pet food, coffee and confections available in Russia. The company said it would continue making essential products, such as infant and hospital food, available in the country.