MOSCOW, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Russian authorities on Thursday destroyed hundreds of tons of food that had been imported from Western nations in accordance with a ban instituted by Moscow last year in response to sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the destruction of the goods -- which included pork, tomatoes, peaches and cheese -- in a landfill and garbage incinerators, The New York Times reported.
"The destruction has been completed, and after it is destroyed it is buried," government spokeswoman Svetlana Zaporozhchenko said.
Putin's order was enforcement of a ban adopted by Moscow exactly one year ago to prohibit the import of foods from Western Europe and the United States. The ban was a response to sanctions imposed on Russia over the annexation of Crimea.
"There's nothing good about sanctions, I've already said that many times, and this retaliation wasn't easy for us," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at the time.
The Russian government has defended the food ban, saying it will help develop the nation's agricultural industry and promote national pride.
At least one Russian politician has proposed a bill that would criminalize the import of Western food and send violators to prison for up to 12 years, the Financial Times reported.
Critics, though, have questioned the decision to destroy food in a country where more than 10 percent of the population lives in poverty and food supply shortages during the Soviet era are a not-so-distant memory.
