How have the markets reacted?

After car brands including Mercedes, BMW, Rolls Royce, Nisan, Kia and Ford exited Russia, auto sales in the country fell by 59 percent in 2022, according to the Association of European Businesses.While sales began to recover in 2023, Chinese manufacturers’ share of the market rose to about 50 percent, compared with less than 10 percent before the invasion.

Meanwhile, the average price of a new car rose by 17 percent in 2023, according to the online marketplace and analytics provider Auto.ru.Major brands such as Audi, Mercedes and BMW continue to be on sale at large auto dealers like Rolf, albeit sometimes at inflated prices.Rolf did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Other products are just a click away online.Valentina, a pensioner from Russia’s Kaluga region, bought a Lego set for her grandson on the Russian online marketplace Ozon after briefly considering picking one up on a visit to neighbouring Latvia.

"The price is the same and they'll even deliver the item right to your door,” Valentina told Al Jazeera.

Valentina bought her Lego set from Griffin Technology, a company registered in Saint Petersburg in 2011.“And we had a lot of people, I must tell you Mr. President [Ramaphosa], we have had a tremendous number of people, especially since they’ve seen this – generally they’re white farmers, and they’re fleeing South Africa.”

Earlier this month, 59 white South Africansas part of a refugee programme set up by Trump to offer sanctuary to them.

Trump’s claim echoes white nationalist beliefs that legislation in South Africa aimed at rectifying apartheid is now, in fact, discriminatory against the Afrikaner community.Right-wing organisations, such as the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, have been championing a narrative that Afrikaners are under an existential threat.