Russian supermarket workers say they were fired over a viral reel about post-election grocery price hikes

Source: Meduza

Sochi bloggers Svetlana Izhilenko and Alisa Kunyashova said they were fired from a local Pyaterochka grocery store after posting a video about rising grocery prices the day after the elections.

On September 21, Izhilenko and Kunyashova, who worked at the store, posted a reel about changing grocery price tags. “We’ve been changing price tags all morning, and we’re in shock. The elections are over, and now almost all the groceries cost 20–30 rubles more,” Izhilenko said in the video, without naming the store. The video drew 5.7 million views and 180,000 likes.

In an October 1 video, Izhilenko said she and her friend had been fired. “The company was so scared that a girl with a blog could ruin its reputation. As if I’m the one who changed the prices. […] Do you see how absurd this is? They fired two girls just for saying ‘The elections are over — prices have gone up,’” she said.

The bloggers’ second reel was even more popular than the first: it drew 7.6 million views and 470,000 likes. Instagram users also began leaving comments about Izhilenko and Kunyashova’s firing on posts from the company’s official account.

Pyaterochka has not commented on the firings.

Развернуть

Elections for the ninth State Duma were held September 18–20. Immediately after the elections, officials began talking about raising taxes.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.

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Russian supermarket workers say they were fired over a viral reel about post-election grocery price hikes

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