Airbnb, the international platform for renting accommodation has shut down in Russia and Belarus. Also, their citizens will not be able to book accommodation in other countries. The company imposed such restrictions in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This was announced on March 4 by Brian Chesky, co-founder, and CEO of Airbnb, on Twitter. He also added the Ukrainian flag to his profile. 

The company later clarified that the ban will also apply to service users from the mentioned countries: 

“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. We certainly hope that as we look to the future, a path to peace is forged”. 

There were more than 93,000 ads from Russia and about 4,000 from Belarus. Earlier, Brian Chesky said that the company evaluates its options taking into account the Russian invasion. “We don’t have a large business in Russia. It is not one of our major markets. But we are absolutely revisiting our relationship about whether to do business in Russia.”

Thus Airbnb has joined a large list of companies that have refused to cooperate with the aggressor. It already includes Ikea, Apple, Netflix, global retailers H & M, Marks & Spencer, Burberry and Boohoo, car manufacturers Ford, BMW Mercedes-Benz and others.