Russian influencers are cutting up their Chanel handbags in protest over 'Russiaphobia'

Russian models and influencers are cutting up their Chanel handbags in protest over what they call 'Russiaphobia', after the brand slapped a sales ban on those who could take their products back to Russia.

"Bye bye", said the model Victoria Bonya to her 9.3 million Instagram followers, in a clip which showed her standing on a balcony, Chanel bag and scissors in hand.

"I have to say if Chanel house does not respect the clients, why do we have to respect Chanel house?" she said in English, before hacking up the handbag with the scissors and then tossing it away. In a caption on the video, the influencer wrote she had "never seen any brand acting so disrespectful towards its clients".

Influencer Victoria Bonya tossed the expensive bag away after hacking it up with scissors

Currently, European Union sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine prohibit the the sale of luxury goods priced higher than €300 (£250) to those in Russia.

The sanctions also prohibit the sale of luxury items to people who intend to take them to Russia or use them in Russia.

Entry-level Chanel handbags cost around £2,000.

Russian actress and television presenter Marina Ermoshkina posted a video of herself chopping up a Chanel bag with what appeared to be garden shears.

In the caption, she said "no bag, no thing is worth my love for my Motherland, is worth my respect for myself."

"I am against the brand that supports Russophobia," she said, adding Chanel had "decided to discriminate against people on the basis of nationality".

The television presenter said she was destroying her bag in response to 'Russiaphobia'

Katya Guseva, a DJ, showed her support for Ermoshkina by destroying her own bag. On Instagram, she said: "I always dreamed that there would be a chanel handbag in my wardrobe and it happened last year."

"But after I learned about the policy of this band towards I decided to remove these bags from my everyday life until the situation changed."

Guseva added she was not calling for others to destroy things with her video.

But internet commentators have lashed out at the Russian women destroying their expensive handbags at a time when thousands of Ukrainians have been killed in the war.

This is not the first time videos of Russian people destroying Western-produced products in response to sanctions have gone viral. In March, a video of a man smashing up an iPad with a hammer was shared thousands of times.

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