How Burton unwittingly made ethnic cleansing fashionable

A T-shirt adorned with a slogan used by Russian right-wing groups to promote ethnic cleansing has been sold in one of Britain’s largest menswear stores.

Burton withdrew the T-shirt from all its stores this week when the true translation of the Cyrillic writing was pointed out. The expression translates as: “We will cleanse Russia of all non-Russians!”



The slogan on the T-shirt, which sold for £12, was surrounded by a mix of French logos and Russian iconography.

A London staff member who speaks Russian noticed the translation gaffe when the T-shirt went on display and raised concerns with Burton’s brand director. A Burton spokeswoman said the employee revealed that the T-shirt was used by rightwing groups in Russia. The phrase is typical of those painted on the homes of foreigners by neo-Nazis.

“As soon as we realised its significance and that it was not something we would want on our T-shirts it was withdrawn from stores. That was Tuesday,” the spokeswoman said. “On Friday we realised it was still on sale online and it was withdrawn completely.”