Global sportswear brand Nike has announced its permanent withdrawal from Russia. The move sees it distancing itself from the nation following its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
Like many retailers and corporations, Nike had pulled out of the state initially following the invasion - which President Vladimir Putin terms a "special military operation" - of Ukraine. There were local partners maintaining a Nike presence there, but that now is also coming to an end.
Nike said in an emailed statement to Reuters: "Nike has made the decision to leave the Russian marketplace. Our priority is to ensure we are fully supporting our employees while we responsibly scale down our operations over the coming months."
Reuters says Nike gets less than 1% of its revenue from Ukraine and Russia combined. McDonald's, Renault and Starbucks are other global corporations which have stated they will be leaving the country completely.
According to Reuters, Russia is looking at passing new laws imminently which would allow Moscow to seize assets and impose criminal penalties on foreign companies seeking to exit Russia over the war in Ukraine. Since the invasion on February 22, 2022, it's been estimated that tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers have died.
