Ontario's liquor retailer pulls vodka brand after Ukrainians complain name refers to Stalin

Ontario’s provincially owned liquor retailer is no longer selling a Russian vodka brand due to complaints from the Ukrainian community that the name evokes memories of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. 

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) was selling Stalinskaya Silver Vodka online and in its stores. 

The vodka company’s website says the name was inspired by the Russian word “stal” — meaning steel. Stalinskaya, it says, means strength. 

But for Ukrainians, the memories dredged up by the use of the name are anything but positive. 

“Our first reaction was one of shock and disappointment,” said Nick Krawetz, one of many in the province’s Ukrainian community who contacted the LCBO to demand the