These decisions have various consequences, ranging from the postponement of the theatrical release of a film for Disney to the withdrawal of a multi-billion dollar project for ExxonMobil.

But Moscow sent international shock waves when it launched its armed forces into Ukraine, triggering a battery of harsh economic sanctions from the West and backlash from many companies with ties to Russia.

ExxonMobil thus became the latest major oil group to announce that it was going to withdraw from the country, gradually leaving the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas field.

The American company has been managing this project since 1995 on behalf of a consortium comprising subsidiaries of the Russian company Rosneft, an Indian company and a Japanese company, and owns 30%.

But "in response to recent events" the group has begun "the process of stopping activities" and is taking steps to get out of it "gradually".

"Given the current situation", he also chose not to invest in new projects in Russia.

ExxonMobil is thus following the example of certain international competitors, such as the British groups Shell and BP, the Italian Eni or the Norwegian Equinor, who have also planned to part with their shares in several joint projects with Russian companies.

The French TotalEnergies leaned more towards the status quo by choosing not to leave Russia but not to invest more money there.

"Safety of our teammates"

Another symbol of the American economy, Apple announced on Tuesday that it had suspended the sale of all its products in Russia after stopping exports to the country last week.

The maker of iPhone phones, Mac computers and iPad tablets has also limited certain services such as its Apple Pay payment solution and removed Russian state media apps RT and Sputnik from its AppStore.

The Ukrainian government had specifically challenged Apple and its boss, Tim Cook.

In a letter posted to Twitter on Friday, Ukraine's Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote: "Please ... stop providing Apple services and products to the Russian Federation, including blocking the access to the Apple Store!".

Boeing, for its part, has announced that it will suspend its operational services to Russian airlines (spare parts, maintenance and technical support) as well as "major operations" in Moscow.

The company also temporarily closed its office in Kyiv.

“As the conflict continues, our teams are focused on the safety of our teammates in the region,” Boeing said in a message sent to AFP.

This decision could in particular quickly pose a problem for the Aeroflot company, which according to its website has 59 Boeing aircraft in its fleet.

Automotive, entertainment, tech, finance: companies from all sectors have also chosen in recent days to disengage, at least temporarily, from Russia.

General Motors has thus ceased its car exports to Russia until further notice, while Ford has decided to suspend its participation in a joint venture manufacturing Transit vans in the country.

Entertainment giants Disney and WarnerMedia have suspended the release of their upcoming films in theaters in Russia, including Pixar's upcoming Red Alert and the latest Batman.

Several big tech names such as Facebook, Google and Twitter have taken steps to limit the influence of media close to Russian power.

American payment card issuers Visa, Mastercard and American Express have also indicated that they have taken steps to implement the sanctions imposed on Russia, in particular preventing Russian banks from using their network.

Moscow announced Tuesday that it was preparing a decree to try to stem this bleeding, by imposing temporary restrictions on the exit of foreign investors from Russian assets.

© 2022 AFP