[LIVE] War in Ukraine: major American firms suspend their activities in Russia

"We will fight to the end," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told British MPs on March 7, 2022. (illustrative image) via REUTERS - UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT OFFICE

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

On the fourteenth day of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, RFI takes stock of the latest information available.

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The main points:

► Joe Biden has announced an

embargo on American imports of Russian oil and gas in 

order to “deal a powerful new blow” to Vladimir Putin.

► McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and some other American multinationals have announced

the suspension of their operations

in Russia

► The number of refugees who have left Ukraine has exceeded

2 million

, according to the UNHCR.

► The first civilians

evacuated via humanitarian corridors

 from the city of Sumy, in northern Ukraine, arrived “

 safely 

” in the center of the country

► RFI's Russian editorial site now broadcasts Ukrainian public radio live (in Ukrainian) 

from the home page

.

Times are given in Universal Time (UT)

12:30 a.m.: McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and a few other US multinationals suspend operations in Russia

Several of these companies, symbols of American culture in the world, had been the subject of a call for a boycott on social networks for a few days, while investors began to ask questions.

McDonald's decided on Tuesday to temporarily close its 850 restaurants in Russia.

Starbucks, which until now claimed that its 130 cafes in Russia were managed under franchise by a Kuwaiti group, finally indicated on Tuesday that the latter had agreed to temporarily close the establishments bearing its name.

And Coca-Cola will suspend its operations in the country.

Its competitor PepsiCo, present in Russia for more than 60 years, has chosen to stop selling its soft drinks but to continue to supply foods deemed essential, such as baby powder.

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  • Ukraine

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