Airbnb suspends all operations in Russia and Belarus

The home rental firm, which has almost 100,000 short-term rentals available across both countries according to the market research firm AirDNA, has been vocal in its support of Ukraine.

Brian Chesky, the co-founder and chief executive of Airbnb, who has added the Ukrainian flag to his Twitter profile, tweeted the suspension in a one-line post.

Russia has more than 93,000 listings on Airbnb, and Belarus almost 4,000, according to AirDNA.

On Thursday, Airbnb waived fees for hosts and those booking rentals in Ukraine. It took the decision after members of the public began making bookings in Ukraine with no intention of travelling as a way of providing financial support to residents facing hardship during the invasion.

Ukraine has more than 17,000 active short-term rental listings.

Last year, Airbnb took bookings for 300m nights across 4 million hosts globally, worth a total of $46.8bn (£35.3bn). The company, which was founded in 2008, was floated in 2020, soaring to a market value of about $100bn.

Airbnb joins a rapidly increasing and extensive list of companies that are severing ties or pausing operations in Russia, including Ikea, the global recruitment company Hays, Apple, Netflix and all the major Hollywood studios, the retailers H&M, Marks & Spencer, Burberry and Boohoo, and car manufacturers including Ford, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.