Bars And Liquor Stores Take Stand Against Russia By Dumping Vodka

There’s always a party going on in Las Vegas, but at Evel Pie, a pizza parlor and bar named after famed American daredevil Evel Knievel, party met protest over the weekend in the form of an event where customers could purchase $300 bottles of Russian-produced vodka to dump out in gutters and toilets.

The festivities also included $5 Ukrainian vodka shots, aptly named “F*** Putin” shots, all to benefit charity.

Branden Powers is managing partner at Evel Pie and says when times get tough, he and his team look to Knievel, “an all-around badass,” to determine how to help.

“When we saw the illegal invasion and occupation of Ukraine, we wanted to do something to help raise funds for the Ukrainian people,” Powers tells Yahoo Life. “We focused our attention on Putin and not the good people of Russia, many of whom are our friends and are entertainers here in Vegas.”

Powers says Evel Pie guests have dumped out over $2,000 worth of Russian-produced Vodka and drank more than 600 shots of Nemiroff, a Ukrainian honey pepper vodka, raising “several thousand dollars” to help the International Committee of the Red Cross with their Ukraine relief efforts.

And the party’s just getting started.

“We’re not going to support a country that is involved in such unscrupulous behavior that is headed by a maniac,” Podrebarac says, adding that while pulling popular Russian vodka brands may mean his business will bring in less money, he’s OK with that. “Sometimes you have to do the right thing even if it isn’t the most financially wise thing to do.”

Podrebarac believes if enough bars and liquor stores cease selling Russian vodka, the impact will eventually be felt by Russian leadership.

“American businessmen and women can lead by example in the things they do,” he says. “Maybe there will be a bigger groundswell in this country to not buy stuff from Russia because aiding those people — not the people themselves because the people are wonderful, but the leaders who have evil intent toward our country and the free world — and giving them money helps fuel their fire and gives them the resources to do all the terrible things they want to do.”


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