Almost immediately after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, several companies and corporations announced its halting of all sales and business in Russia. The drawback of Putin’s actions was swift and devastating.

Here is a list of some of the companies that will no longer continue operations of any kind in Russia:

• Estée Lauder Companies
• Ikea
• Spotify
• H&M Group
• Disney
• Warner Bros.
• Canada Goose
• Expedia
• Adidas
• ExxonMobil
• Harley-Davidson
• General Motors
• Volvo & Daimler Truck Holding
• BP
• Apple
• Equinor
• Norges Bank Investment Management
• LVMH- Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy
• Kering- Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga
• Hermès
• Chanel
• Inditex
• PayPal
• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express
• Netflix
• TikTok
• Burberry
• Puma
• Prada
• PwC
• KPMG
• Airbnb
• Lego
• IBM
• Levi’s

The Russian Ruble is the national currency of the Russian Federation. The value of the Ruble decreased sharply following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As of March 8, one Russian Ruble is equivalent to 0.0074 United States Dollars, which is essentially worthless.

Russia’s economy is now in shambles. Elvira Nabiullina, the head of Russia’s central bank, had defeating news for Russian citizens. She announced that the Central Bank of Russia will be raising the key interest rate to 20%, an all-time high. As a last-ditch effort to save the collapsing economy, the interest rate jumped 10.5%.

As major corporations close their stores and halt all operations, Russian employees of these stores are facing major drawbacks. However, many companies like McDonald’s have announced that they will still continue to pay Russian employees amid store closures.

Some of these companies are also donating to nonprofits that are directly helping Ukrainian refugees and those affected by Putin’s war. Levi’s, the iconic denim brand, is donating more than $300,000 to nonprofits helping on the ground.

This swift and decisive action led by some of the largest corporations in the world should serve as a grave reminder to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin that actions have consequences, especially horrific and genocidal actions.

Although the Russian people did not invade Ukraine, they will feel the devastating results of their leader’s poor decisions.

Hanna Hajdu, a junior at Wayne Hills, applauded the actions of these major corporations. “It’s great to see these companies prioritizing peace and ethical decisions instead of sales and financial gain. It’s very easy to stand with the more powerful country where they have more business, so this is a very big deal for large companies especially,” Hajdu said. “Also, certain corporations such as Disney and Apple can have a genuine impact on consumers’ stances on these types of issues, so withdrawing their operations is also a political action that could alter the opinions of millions.”

As Hajdu mentioned, Disney and Apple halting all operations in Russia definitely will influence other companies to follow suit and exit the Russian market as well. It’s only a matter of time until the Russian economy collapses, yet again.