Live: McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Starbucks have joined other US companies that have suspended their operations in Russia

On Mar 8, 2022 0

McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Starbucks on Tuesday bowed to public pressure and suspended their operations in Russia due to Moscow’s internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine. Many of these companies, symbols of American cultural influence in the world, have been subject to calls for boycotts on social media as investors also begin to ask questions about their existence. Follow our live blog for the latest developments for the day.

US President Joe Biden announced a ban on US imports of oil from Russia in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK also said it would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year. The United Nations said the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 has risen to more than two million. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to “fight to the end” in a hypothetical address to UK lawmakers to a standing ovation, saying “we will not give up, we will not lose”. Nearly 5,000 civilians were evacuated from the northeastern Sumy region via humanitarian corridors on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian officials. However, authorities were unable to evacuate people from the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol. Thousands of people have also fled Kyiv’s suburb of Irbin on foot across a makeshift bridge as fighting intensifies around the Ukrainian capital. Russian news agencies reported that Moscow announced a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine on Wednesday morning from 10 a.m. local time (7 a.m. GMT), and Moscow also suggested discussing routes and other details of humanitarian corridors with Ukraine early Wednesday. A second senior Russian commander was killed on the battlefield, according to Ukrainian military and intelligence officials. Russia has not commented on the report. The United Nations said the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine exceeded two million on Tuesday. Energy giant Shell said on Tuesday it would stop buying Russian crude oil and halt its operations in Ukraine. McDonald’s said it will temporarily close all 850 of its restaurants in Russia but will continue to pay the salaries of its 62,000 employees in the country. Coffee giant Starbucks and Coca-Cola have also said they are suspending all business in Russia, follow our live updates below. If updates do not appear, please refresh the page.

(France 24, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and Abu Dhabi).

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