A total of 225 kilograms of mandarins imported from Turkey were destroyed in the Stavropol region after the presidential decree banning the import of a number of food items from Turkey came into force on Jan. 1, the RBC news agency reported Sunday, citing spokespeople of a local branch of Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia's agricultural watchdog.
During a raid on Jan. 8, officials from Rosselkhoznadzor and Federal Security Service (FSB) officers found a supply of Turkish mandarins in one of the region's stores which had been imported on Jan. 5, the report said. The supply was seized and destroyed with a bulldozer, according to RBC.
Russian authorities announced the ban on Turkish products, including fruits, vegetables, poultry and salt, in early December last year, almost a week after Turkey downed a Russian warplane, arguing it had unlawfully entered its airspace. Moscow has denied the claims, with President Vladimir Putin calling the incident “a stab in the back” and said it would affect relations between the two countries.