Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has been seen on numerous occasions sporting an olive green shirt, which has sparked the sale of the shirt across online marketplaces.
Zelensky's iconic olive green shirt, which features the Ukrainian Armed Forces symbol, is currently on sale across several online marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay and Etsy.
The sale of the shirt online comes as Zelensky has been seen wearing it while addressing several different nations virtually. Zelensky has been seen wearing the shirt in virtual speeches to the U.S. Congress, and both the Canadian and European parliaments. While wearing the shirt, Zelensky has continued to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and call on other nations for support in the ongoing war.
"Support Ukraine President Zelensky Saying Ukrainian Symbol T-Shirt," one Amazon listing says.
Similarly, on Etsy, seller Wayne, who owns the WanderDogSwag shop listed a shirt as "The Zelenskyy Tee - Men's Cotton Crew Tee | Ukrainian President Zelensky Tee | As Seen On TV | Help Ukraine | Stand With Ukraine," and noted that 50 percent of the shirt's profits will be going to aide Ukraine.
While speaking with Newsweek on Wednesday, Wayne explained that he was first prompted to begin selling the shirts by his brother, who informed him that Zelensky was seen on the news wearing the shirt. Since listing the shirt on Etsy, Wayne said that orders have "exploded."
Wayne told Newsweek that shirt sales really began to increase following Zelensky's speech in front of the U.S. Congress.
"There's money being made," Wayne said.
According to Wayne, since listing the shirts last week, he has made a profit of around $3,000, which means that he plans to donate around $1,500 to Ukraine using Care.Org. Wayne explained that he plans to wait till the end of the month to donate the portion of profits, instead of making several smaller donations after each sale.
Shortly after listing the shirts, most of Wayne's sales were from people in the U.S. showing support for Ukraine, but in recent days, sales have come from other areas across the globe.
"Off the top of my head; Poland, Czechoslovakia, I got one this morning from Singapore, a few Australian ones, a few Great Britain ones, a couple from Portugal," Wayne told Newsweek.
Despite the support for the shirts from many, some others such as financial commentator Peter Schiff, have criticized Zelensky's shirt.
"I understand times are hard, but doesn't the President of the #Ukraine own a suit? I don't have much respect for current members of the U.S. Congress either, but I still wouldn't address them wearing a t-shirt. I wouldn't want to disrespect the institution or the Unites [sic] States," Schiff wrote on Twitter last week.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
