Ukraine war: Over 400 firms stopped operations in Russia after US sanctions

More than 400 firms have stopped their business activities in Russia, as a result of the severe US sanctions on the country for its invasion of Ukraine, founder of Bobby Balachandran said

More than 400 firms have stopped their business activities in Russia, as a result of the severe US sanctions on the country for its invasion of Ukraine, founder of a US-based software company Bobby Balachandran said on Friday.

"The last I heard, more than 400 companies have decided to support the government to stop doing business with Russia," said Balachandran adding that his own company Exterro has stopped its activities in Russia.

Balachandran made the observations while speaking to ANI in the Coimbatore office of the company.

"We follow the governmental norms. So, currently, we are not doing business with Russia at this point," Balachandran told ANI.

On being asked about the kind of software are now denied to Russia as a result of the sanctions, he said, "It's across the board... banking, consumer products... gaming... software is the lifeline today, so if you don't have that (then it's difficult),"

"If you look at the types of software we use, we use Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn... it's all made in America," he added.

He described the situation in Ukraine amidst the ongoing conflict as "very sad", saying, "our heart goes to the people who are impacted by it (the conflict)."

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last month on February 24 after recognising the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as "independent republics." Russia has since continued to maintain that the aim of its operations has been to "demilitarize" and "de-nazify" the country.

The Russian actions were immediately condemned by almost all the western countries, who rolled out severe sets of sanctions targetting the Russian economy, and key individuals.

The conflict which has now entered its second month has caused a severe humanitarian crisis with millions of refugees fleeing to neighbouring Western countries, including Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary.

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday announced an economic package of EUR 3.4 billion to support EU countries hosting those fleeing the war.

As of March 24, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded a total of 2,788 civilian casualties in the country, among them 1081 killed and 1,707 injured. The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has reported 135 children as killed in the conflict as of March 25.