Microsoft announced this Friday that it is suspending sales of its products and services in Russia, as well as other “aspects” of its business in that country, in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine ordered by President Vladimir Putin, which dozens of companies have repudiated.
The president of the American technology company, Brad Smith, indicated in a corporate blog post that the Microsoft team “condemns” the Russian invasion of Ukraine and is coordinating with the US, the European Union and the United Kingdom to comply with the sanctions imposed on Ukraine. Moscow.
“We believe that we are most effective in helping Ukraine when we take concrete steps in coordination with decisions made by those governments and will take further steps as this situation evolves,” Smith said in the note.
The Microsoft official said he remains focused on protecting Ukraine’s cybersecurity and is working “proactively” to have its officials defend against Russian hacks, including a “recent cyberattack against a major Ukrainian television channel.”
The company joins other large technology companies that have taken measures to isolate Russia, such as Google, which a few hours ago told The New York Times that it was suspending its advertising business in the country after previously paralyzing its ads in media-produced content. state.
Google alleged that the Russian internet regulator was requiring it to stop running ads containing what it believes to be false information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, creating “extraordinary circumstances” for which it has chosen to suspend all advertising business.
This week, Apple decided to suspend sales of its products in Russia, and the Airbnb rental platform paralyzed all its operations in that country and in Belarus.
A week after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the list of companies from all sectors that have decided to leave Russia or cease business is getting longer, and this Thursday Accenture, Michelin, Ikea, Volkswagen or Mango joined.