With people left feeling helpless at the horrific scenes in Ukraine, pubs and bars are taking a stand by removing Russian spirits and beers from sale amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Among those is The Amedea Bar on Oxford Street in Whitstable.

Croatian bar owner, Ed Thomas, says the conflict "hits very close to home" and although they have always served Croatian vodka, they are instead standing with Ukraine by stocking Obolon, a Ukrainian lager brewed in Kyiv. With every bottle sold, £1 will be donated to the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

Owner, 29-year-old Ed Thomas said: "Obviously being a European bar, the war in Yugoslavia all still feels quite recent.

"It's so close to home with another similar horrible war happening again.

"So anything that we can do that is pro-Europe or supporting the 'little guy', we want to do that."

Ed Thomas explains the fundraising efforts at Amedea

Obolon has been a hit with the regular customers, with many choosing it over their typical beer because of the opportunity to help those in Ukraine.

However, there are also other events happening within the small independent bar for those who don't fancy a bottle of the holiday-style lager.

A pot has been placed on the bar for donations, with some punters throwing in £20 notes to support the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

There's also a competition to win the best seat in the house and a bottle of wine on the house with all entry money being donated.

Major chains like Wetherspoons, Shepherd Neame and Greene King have all said they are currently not stocking any Russian products as Western nations continue with sanctions as part of efforts to halt the invasion of Ukraine.

They join major retail chains such as Asda, Co-op, Sainsbury's, Asos and John Lewis who have all removed items originated in Russia in recent weeks.

Wetherspoons owns more than 20 pubs in Kent and announced last week that it will stop selling Russian beer across its 870 sites in the UK.

Their Baltika Lager is brewed in St Petersburg and costs £2.99 - it will be returned to the distributor, Carlsberg.

In a statement, a spokesman for Wetherspoons said: “In light of the situation in Ukraine we just felt that we could not stock it anymore."

The statement continued: “As of today all those beers won’t be available in any Wetherspoons pub and either have been or are in the process of being returned to the Carlsberg distributor.

“We are not implying in any way that anyone involved with the brewery is directly involved with what’s going on but we thought in light of the current situation our pubs don’t want to be serving Russian beers.”

Similarly, Shepherd Neame have removed all Russian beers from sale and said that it has always stocked Polish vodka rather than Russian, even before the recent invasion of Ukraine.

The Faversham-based brewer and pub company has also pledged £20,000 to kickstart a fundraising effort to support the people of Ukraine.

It will be donating the money to the British Red Cross’s DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, and has also launched a Just Giving campaign for the appeal which it is promoting across its pub and hotel estate to raise awareness and encourage customer donations.

Shepherd Neame has also stopped exporting beer to Russia, and is not stocking any Russian products across its estate.

Chief executive Jonathan Neame said: “We are deeply saddened by the terrible events in Ukraine, and our thoughts are with everyone affected. It is important we all do something to support the people of Ukraine at this difficult time, which is why we decided to kickstart this fundraising campaign across our business."

A number of Shepherd Neame’s pubs are also undertaking individual efforts to support the people of Ukraine, collecting supplies and raising funds.

Team members at the brewery are also being offered the opportunity to take paid time off work to volunteer to help Faversham-based company Ideaworks which is co-ordinating the collection and delivery of emergency supplies.

Mr Neame added: "We are proud to see the individual efforts being undertaken by our pub teams, and would like to thank our customers for their generous support.”

Greene King has 17 pubs across the county and has also confirmed that it is currently not stocking any Russian drinks.

As well as the chains, local pubs have also been announcing similar sanctions against Vladimir Putin and removing vodkas and beers from suppliers in Russia.

Coastal Bar in Ramsgate caused a stir on social media after their controversial decision to give out free drinks in the colours of the Ukrainian flag - one for every Russian aircraft shot down by the fighter pilot known as the 'Ghost of Kyiv'.

Bosses at the bar defended the decision and said: "These shots were in solidarity with Ukraine and were given out for free.

"People talking about peace in Ukraine is never a bad thing, and to raise its profile just in the same way that most people have changed their profile pictures to the Ukrainian flag."

The bar has since said they will not be selling Russian vodka anymore and are trying to find a way to return it to the supplier.

A spokesman said: "We have removed our Russian standard vodka from sale and replaced it with Nemiroff vodka which is a Ukrainian vodka. We are looking at whether the Russian standard can be returned to suppliers"

The King William IV pub in Pembury has also replaced all Russian vodka with Nemrioff.

A statement from the pub said: "We usually keep political chat to our lovely customers holding a drink at the bar.

"But, we cannot ignore what’s happening, so as a small gesture of solidarity we have taken the decision, along with many others, that we will no longer sell Russian Vodka, or Russian anything for that matter."

It added: "In fact we are delighted to announce we have managed to source an excellent Ukrainian Vodka called Nemiroff - it’s on order and will be pouring with us from next week."

"Be sure to plan a visit and maybe enjoy a Ukrainian vodka along with your usual tipple for a while."

Richard, the director of the King William IV did not comment on where the excess stock of Russian standard would be going.

However, he shared the pub has also pre-ordered some Spirited Union ‘Freedom Spice Rum’, a non-profit Rum where all profits go to the Ukrainian Humanitarian crisis.