Airbnb has announced that it will suspend all operations in Russia and Belarus in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week.
Airbnb, Inc. CEO Brian Chesky, who has added a Ukrainian flag to his name on Twitter in solidarity with the country, tweeted the news Thursday night, shortly after Russian infantry attacked the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant near Energodar, Ukraine.
Earlier Thursday Chesky retweeted images of a person’s chat with a Ukrainian Airbnb host, saying “People are booking Airbnbs in Ukraine they don’t intend to stay in just to help Hosts.” He retweeted two more similar posts where people shared their messages after booking from Ukrainian hosts.
Chesky announced Monday that Airbnb aims to house over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees for free. He followed up with notices telling people how they can help the company in its efforts to house refugees.
“With more Hosts, we can house more refugees,” Chesky wrote. “If you live in Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, France, UK, Italy, Netherlands … anywhere a refugee may be, you can help by opening your home.”
Airbnb previously housed over 20,000 Afghan refugees in the span of six months, boosting its goal number to 40,000 on Feb. 22.
The news of Airbnb’s suspension of operations in Russia and Belarus comes amid increasing diplomatic pressure against Russia to retreat from Ukraine.