Airbnb suspends all operations in Russia and Belarus

theguardian.com:

Airbnb has suspended all operations in Russia and Belarus, and stopped users of the home rental site from both countries from making any bookings, in the company’s latest response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

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

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

The company elaborated on Chesky’s tweet, adding that the ban would extend to Airbnb members of those countries also trying to make any bookings on the site.

“This means that we will block calendars from accepting new bookings in both countries until further notice,” said a spokeswoman for the company. “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.”

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 made the decision to do so 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.

On Monday, Airbnb pledged to offer free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. The company has said that it has received “overwhelming support” to the initiative, with more