Zakharova urged Corriere della Sera to recognize reports about her shopping spree in the UAE as a fake

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Saturday, February 15, denied the information published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that she allegedly went shopping in Dubai.

"I hope you have the courage to recognize the publication as a fake and post a retraction," she wrote in her Telegram channel.

Zakharova recalled that she had been to Dubai several times, but exclusively as part of official delegations. She specified that she wears only domestic brands and buys clothes in Russia and has never gone shopping in Italy or any other country.

The Foreign Ministry official emphasized that she has been choosing domestic goods as a matter of principle in order to support Russian producers since the sanctions against Russia were imposed in 2014.

She also thanked the newspaper's editor-in-chief Luciano Fontana for the fact that things from Russian producers were called "super-brands" in the publication.

On February 3, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said it was necessary to ban at the regulatory level in Russia the purchase of foreign equipment when domestic analogs are available.

In April 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country can and will produce necessary goods, including medicines, equipment, as well as transportation, on its own. He noted that it is critical to modernize sectors of the economy, including with the help of digital technologies.