March 12, 2026

Groceries for International Women's Day


Groceries for International Women's Day
An elderly woman with groceries given by United Russia for International Women's Day. Edinaya Rossiya | Melovsky MO, VKontakte

On March 7, Verstka reported that, in commemoration of International Women’s Day, United Russia, President Putin’s political party, gave grocery bags to retired women, volunteers in war efforts, and the widows of soldiers who died fighting in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

In the village of Peschany Dol, Sakhalin Oblast, women volunteers who collect humanitarian aid for Russian soldiers in Ukraine received two bottles of sunflower seed oil. They were then photographed wearing caps with United Russia’s polar bear logo.

In Krasnoyarsky Krai, a Sochi local legislator gave “help that heartwarms” to 82-year-old Tamara Ivanovna. The deputy called an electrician to her house to fix her wiring and replace burned-out lightbulbs. Then United Russia gave her an assortment of food, including cookies, bananas, tea, milk, bread, and cold cuts.

In Yugra, widows of fallen soldiers in Ukraine received a bag (adorned with the United Russia symbol) containing a bottle of fruit juice, a loaf of bread, sour cream, eggs, butter, ham, sausage, and cheese. The United Russia party posted images of women holding the gifts with the caption “We do not abandon our own.” In Pyatigorsk, a disabled elderly woman approached a Duma member representing Stavropolsky Krai, asking her for food. The legislator took a picture with the elder as she lay in bed, eating a cake she had given her.

In the Shelestovka and Morozovka villages of occupied Luhansk, women were given cereals, tea, canned food, cheese, butter, and sweets. According to United Russia, they gave “lonely women” a “nice and very necessary surprise” to “make life easier.”

United Russia was not the only gift-giver on International Women's Day. The right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) distributed postcards to women with the image of the organization's leader, Leonid Slutsky. The cards included quotes from the political leader about how the political party had led Russian women "to confidence and prosperity." In Dagestan, the LDPR gave teachers an election calendar and a pair of white socks with the organization's logo.

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