Amazon Cuts Off Access to Prime Video in Russia

Amazon Prime Video has joined the growing number of businesses suspending commercial activities in Russia, given “the ongoing situation in Russia and Ukraine,” the company said in a statement. That being said, all streaming content from Amazon Prime Video will no longer be available for customers based in Russia.

Today, Discovery announced that it would be suspending the broadcast of 15 channels in Russia. Netflix, Roku, DIRECTV, CNN, Bloomberg, Disney, YouTube, the NHL, Olympics, FIFA, McDonald’s, Papa Johns, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks are just a few of the dozens of American companies that have stopped business operations in the country.

More than 20 international media groups such as providers in Poland, Australia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Germany have refused to broadcast “propagandistic TV channels” including RT, NTV, RTR, and 1 Channel.

An updated list of the corporations that have pulled out of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine can be found here.

Amazon also announced that it has ceased shipment of retail products to customers in Russia and Belarus. The e-commerce giant will no longer be taking orders from Russian customers for its video game “New World,” which is the only game the company sells directly in the country.

In addition, there will be no new Russia or Belarus-based customers for its AWS cloud computing services, nor will merchants based in those countries be accepted as Amazon third-party sellers.

According to Amazon, it donated $5 million to support people affected by the war and it has continued to match employees’ donations. As of today, over 10,000 Amazon employees have donated to the effort. Its customers are also making donations. “Tens of thousands of [Amazon] customers around the world” have donated to benefit Save the Children and the Red Cross on the ground in Ukraine.