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• Airbnb CEO announced the company’s decision on Twitter
• The home-sharing company said it would offer free housing to Ukrainian refugees
Airbnb (NYSE: ABNB) announced it is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus in a move to boycott Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.
Airbnb CEO and co-founder, Brian Chesky announced the company’s decision on Twitter late on Thursday.
“Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus,” he tweeted.
Many companies including majority of airlines have suspended services in Russia and therefore Airbnb’s business would not be majorly impacted by the decision.
An Airbnb spokesperson told CNBC: “This means that we will block calendars from accepting new bookings in both countries until further notice. We will also restrict users in Belarus and Russia from making new reservations as guests.”
Airbnb on Monday said it will offer free housing to Ukrainian refugees with the help of Airbnb hosts and donations made to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund. People are also helping the refugees by booking Airbnb properties for them across Ukraine.
An Instagram account Quentin Quarantino, which has over 898,000 followers, started a movement booking Airbnb for Ukrainian refugees. The account has an Instagram which raises money for donations.
“Yesterday I shared an idea to support Ukraine by booking rooms for rent on Airbnb,” the account’s operator wrote on Twitter Thursday.
“24 hours later, 100′s of people are booking Airbnbs in Ukraine as a way to send immediate monetary assistance to people in hard-hit areas. The messages in response from the hosts are so moving.”
Many tech companies including Apple and Google have suspended services in Russia. Apple had announced on Tuesday that it has terminated product sales in Russia.
Moreover, New York Times reported that Google has suspended advertising in Russia on Thursday.
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