A week after angering many in Russia by burning illegally imported Western food, authorities have started feeding Dutch flowers to the flames.
Officials say blooms from the Netherlands, which supplies much of Russia's $2.5 billion flower market, pose safety risks because they may be infected.
Critics say the "flower war" marks a new low in relations with the West and is Moscow's retaliation for a Dutch investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held east Ukraine in July last year.
Whatever the reason, ordinary Russians, already struggling with unemployment and inflation, can expect higher flower prices in the next few weeks when demand soars as children returning to school traditionally give flowers to their teachers.
"These are freshly cut flowers from the Netherlands infected with western Californian flower thrips," Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor's chief sanitary inspector, Yekaterina Slakova, explained as television showed workers burning boxes filled with roses.
Source: Reuters
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