Is human life of the highest value, as declared by the world’s largest corporations?
It would be a significant step towards ending the war if many global companies stopped their business in the aggressor country
On 24 February, Russia started a war in Ukraine, shelling and bombing many Ukrainian towns, including our capital Kyiv.
Russia claims that it is a «special operation» targeting military objects, but they fired at civilian targets such as children's shelters and hospitals, causing enormous suffering of Ukrainian people and thousands of civilian casualties. To this moment, many children died or were injured.
Most civilized countries have imposed sanctions against the Russian economy for its invasion, large corporates joined the suit declaring that human life is of utmost value and that Russia started an unprovoked war.
It would be a significant step towards ending the war if many global companies stopped their business in the aggressor country. The effect on the companies themselves should be mild, as the Russian economy is relatively closed and the share of Russia in their global business is small. That is, loss of business in Russia should not be impactful for most companies listed below, and it could generate a positive effect when consumers recognize their high ethical standards.
But is human life indeed important for those companies, or are those empty words akin to other social responsibility statements? With the world's immense social and economic injustice, people can channel their support for Ukraine into tangible actions by choosing companies that share their values.
We list below the actions large corporations have taken regarding their business with Russia. This list will be updated and corrected, in case of inaccuracy, weekly.