Across the capital Kiev last weekend, young men and women converged on Russian-owned cafes and restaurants. With each sale, the activists feigned their own death. They held signs that said "Russia kills!" against their chest as they lay prone on the floor.

Each pancake sold they claimed ‘costs’ three lives; a coffee, one life; a cake or a salad two each. “Not too expensive, this Russian food?” the activists asked visitors.

Tymur Pliushch, a founder of Resistance, told Fairfax Media the flash mobs began in 2013 after Russia’s trade blockade, but the Crimean crisis and the recent MH17 incident revitalised the campaign.

“The campaign was called ‘Russian products are killing’,” he says. “That means money that consumers are paying for Russian goods might be used for the financial support of military actions in Ukraine."

Activists have also built a smartphone app telling people which stores to avoid, in order to not send money back to Russia. The app, called "Boycott Invaders", also allows users to scan barcodes as they shop, providing an instant answer on whether the product is Russian-made or owned.

Since MH17 was shot down last week, by what appears to be pro-Russian separatists, Ukrainian activists  have stepped up their crusade against Russian products and businesses.

Posters featuring a "toothed matryoshka (nesting doll)" symbol warn consumers against "buying goods of the Russian producer, you are sponsoring the war in our region", while showing them how to identify a Russian product by the barcode.

The posters are needed, activists say, because Ukrainian citizens are still uninformed.

The activists say they hit four cafes last weekend.

Ukrainian shoppers say they did not usually notice where the products came from, only the price and quality.

"Now I am paying attention," one woman told Radio Free Europe. "If it's manufactured in Russia, I ask for something else."

A man says, "it is just wrong to buy the aggressor's product". Yet another says they now choose Chinese products over Russian.

The boycotts are not limited to physical goods.

Announcing a need to "fight the enemy in any way", a collection of Ukrainian women started a campaign in March, encouraging their countrywomen to avoid sleeping with Russian men.

The campaign is complete with a line of t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, "Don't give it to a Russian".

with Nick Miller