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US President Joe Biden has labelled Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” in a move likely to escalate diplomatic tensions even further.

Mr Biden delivered the remark off-the-cuff in response to a reporter’s question at the White House.

It is the first time he has used such language to condemn President Putin, and the White House later said he was “speaking from his heart”.

The Kremlin, however, said it was “unforgiveable rhetoric”.

“We believe such rhetoric to be unacceptable and unforgivable on the part of the head of a state, whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency Tass.

The exchange in Washington happened Wednesday when a reporter asked the US president: “Mr President, after everything we have seen, are you ready to call Putin a war criminal?”

The President replied “no” before being challenged, and then changed his reply: “Did you ask me whether I would tell ….? Oh, I think he is a war criminal.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki later said the president had been speaking from his heart after seeing “barbaric” images of the violence in Ukraine, rather than making any official declaration.

She noted that there was a separate legal process, run by the State Department, to determine war crimes – and that was ongoing separately.

The president’s official Twitter account posted: “Putin is inflicting appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine – bombing apartment buildings and maternity wards… these are atrocities. It is an outrage to the world.”

One by one, diplomatic bridges between the United States and Russia are being set ablaze.

Mr Biden’s statement was an odd one, albeit not out of keeping for a politician who has a history of making monumental policy shifts in seemingly off-the-cuff remarks (see, for instance, his comments on gay marriage in 2012).

After initially telling a reporter he did not think Mr Putin was a criminal, he came back and reversed himself. If there had been an internal debate at the White House over how to handle the growing calls in Congress and the press to condemn Mr Putin in this way, the president settled it in an aside, not a set-piece speech.

This, of course, will make it harder for Mr Biden and his administration to work with the Russians going forward. Every concession or negotiated agreement, on whatever topic, will invite the rejoinder: How can you associate with a criminal?

Perhaps Mr Biden, in his comments, was simply acknowledging the new reality – that the world’s political order has irrevocably shifted, and there’s no going back to the way things were.

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It came after a busy day of political theatre in both the US and Russia over Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier gave a speech by video link to the US Congress, receiving a standing ovation. Hours later, Mr Biden approved additional weapons aid for Ukraine, bringing the total US contribution to $1bn (£760m).

On the other side of the world, President Putin also gave a televised speech laden with anti-Western rhetoric.

He accused the West of trying to divide Russia with lies, and railed against those he called “traitors” inside of Russia.

“Of course they will try to bet on the so-called fifth column, on traitors – on those who earn their money here, but live over there. Live, not in the geographical sense, but in the sense of their thoughts, their slavish thinking,” Mr Putin said.

The term “fifth column” is often used for a group that tries to undermine a nation or organisation from the inside.

“Any people, and especially the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors, and just to spit them out like a fly that accidentally flew into their mouths,” Mr Putin said. Such a “self-purification” of society would strengthen Russia, he added.

Mr Putin also accused the West of trying to provoke civil conflict with the goal of “the destruction of Russia”.

His speech was greeted with concern by some Russia-watchers and journalists.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst, told the New York Times that Mr Putin was signalling authorities across Russia to target “all spheres of society that show any sympathy to the Western way of life”.

Mikhail Kasyanov, a former Russian Prime Minister who also worked in Mr Putin’s first government before becoming one of his fiercest critics, tweeted that Mr Putin “is intensifying his actions to destroy Russia”.

He is “essentially announcing the start of mass repressions against those who don’t agree with the regime,” Mr Kasyanov wrote. “This has happened in our history before, and not only ours.”

Germany’s cyber-security authority has warned against using anti-virus software from Russian headquartered company Kaspersky.

The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) issued the statement in light of the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian information-technology businesses could be spied on or forced to launch cyber-attacks, it said.

Kaspersky told BBC News the warning had been “made on political grounds” and it had no ties to the Russian government.

‘Offensive operations’
The BSI made no allegation of current problems with Kaspersky’s products but said the conflict in Ukraine and Russian threats against the European Union, Nato and Germany brought with them the risk of cyber-attacks.

“A Russian IT manufacturer can carry out offensive operations itself, be forced against its will to attack target systems, or be spied on as a victim of a cyber operation without its knowledge or as a tool for attacks against its own customers,” the warning said.

The BSI recommends Kaspersky anti-virus products are replaced with alternatives – but carefully, to avoid weakening defences.

In 2017, President Donald Trump signed legislation banning Kaspersky software’s use within the US government

The same year, UK’s National Cyber Security Centre announced it would write to all government departments, warning against using Kaspersky products for systems related to national security.

‘Resolving conflicts’
Following the BSI’s warning, Eintracht Frankfurt football club spokesman Axel Hellmann told Bloomberg: “We have notified Kaspersky management that we are terminating [our] sponsorship agreement effective immediately.

“We very much regret the development.”

Kaspersky said it would seek clarification from the BSI on its decision, which was “not based on a technical assessment of Kaspersky products”, and how to address its concerns.

As a private global cyber-security company it “does not have any ties to the Russian or any other government”.

Its data-processing infrastructure had been relocated to Switzerland in 2018

And “the security and integrity of our data services and engineering practices have been confirmed by independent third-party assessments”.

“We believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument for resolving conflicts,” it said.

“War isn’t good for anyone.”

Similar remarks by founder Eugene Kaspersky two weeks ago attracted strong criticism.

“Better to have stayed silent than to have called an invasion a ‘situation’ that requires a ‘compromise’,” Rik Ferguson, of rival cyber-security company TrendMicro, tweeted.

Russia’s state media watchdog Roskomnadzor says Instagram will be blocked in the country due to “calls for violence” against Russian soldiers.

Instagram owner Meta said it would let its users in some countries call for violence against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian soldiers.

It will temporarily allow some violent posts such as “death to the Russian invaders” that usually break its rules.

However, it says it won’t permit calls for violence against Russian civilians.

In response to Meta’s shift in policy, Russia called on the US to stop the social media giant’s “extremist activities”.

On Friday, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office called for a criminal investigation to be launched against Meta, citing Russian propaganda and extremism laws, according to a statement quoted by privately-owned news agency Interfax.

The agency added that the Prosecutor General’s Office had asked state media watchdog Roskomnadzor to restrict access to Instagram over the “distribution of information materials containing calls to carry out violent actions against Russians, including servicemen”.

On 4 March, Roskomnadzor said it was blocking access to Facebook in Russia over “discrimination” against Russian media.

Meta owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.

However, WhatsApp is not currently being blocked in Russia as it is a messaging platform rather than a social network.

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Analysis
by Olga Robinson, BBC Monitoring

This was a long time coming. The Russian authorities have been threatening to ban platforms such as Facebook and Instagram for a long time.

But declaring a major tech company an “extremist organisation” is a drastic move, even by Russian standards.

Many ordinary Russians are unlikely to feel the implications of today’s announcement straight away.

After all, access to Facebook and Instagram has already been restricted in the country over what Moscow sees as “fake news” about its invasion of Ukraine.

But the long-term implications of this are significant.

Instagram is extremely popular in Russia and – as some experts point out – crucial to small businesses as well as lifestyle bloggers.

Besides, not many Russians know how to use a VPN, which means potentially huge swaths of the population could be cut off from some of the major Western social media platforms.

There is also the issue of WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta and is the most popular messenger in Russia.

So far, indications in the Russian media suggest that it may be spared.

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Policy shift
Meta announced it had changed its policy after the Reuters news agency said it had seen internal emails outlining the policy shift.

“In light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, we made a temporary exception for those affected by the war, to express violent sentiments toward invading armed forces,” a Meta spokesperson told the BBC.

Under the amended policy, users in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland will also be able to call for the deaths of Mr Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The emails reportedly said calls for the leaders’ deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets, or included a location or methods.

Could Putin be prosecuted for war crimes?
Calls for violence against Russians are also allowed when the post clearly references the invasion of Ukraine, the emails reportedly said.

“We demand that US authorities stop the extremist activities of Meta, take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Russia’s embassy in the US tweeted.

“Users of Facebook and Instagram did not give the owners of these platforms the right to determine the criteria of truth and pit nations against each other,” it added.

Russia announced last week that it was blocking Facebook and its platforms, citing 26 cases of “discrimination” against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020.

While access to the site had already been restricted in Russia, it was not completely unavailable.

Moscow has cracked down on several social media platforms as it pursues what it calls a “special operation” in Ukraine.

Two non-executive directors of Huawei UK have resigned over the company’s stance on the conflict in Ukraine.

The BBC understands Sir Andrew Cahn and Sir Ken Olisa felt the firm’s failure to quickly condemn the Russian invasion had made their positions untenable.

Huawei UK thanked both men for their “invaluable guidance”.

Asked by BBC News if Huawei would continue to do business with Russia, the company said: “We are not commenting any further.”

Strong support
The BBC understands both directors felt Huawei should have quickly condemned the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

It is believed that both felt that, although this was a complex situation for the company, the firm’s stance was at odds with their expectations as UK board directors.

A Huawei official said: “Sir Andrew Cahn and Sir Ken Olisa brought considerable experience from the world of business and technology to Huawei UK’s board of directors when they were appointed, in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

“Both have shown strong support for Huawei’s commitment to the UK and have helped uphold the highest standards of corporate governance.”

‘Devastating’ action
News of the resignations comes as the US warned Chinese companies not to breach restrictions on technology exports to Russia.

China abstained on a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s invasion but its government has also recently expressed “regret” about the military action, saying it was extremely concerned about the harm to civilians.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told the New York Times Washington could take “devastating” action against Chinese companies that defied Russian sanctions, prohibiting the use of US equipment and software needed to make their products.

Russia “is certainly going to be courting other countries to do an end run around our sanctions and export controls”, Ms Raimondo told the newspaper.

The threats echo measures taken against Huawei in 2020, when Donald Trump’s administration added the company to its “entity list”, which bans it from acquiring technology from US companies without government approval.

The US government said at the time it believed Huawei posed a national security threat, something the company strongly denied.

But the restrictions hit the company’s earnings hard and deprived it of access to key technologies.

The billionaire Russian-born co-founder of messaging app Telegram has told Ukrainian users their data is safe.

In a Telegram post, Pavel Durov, who lives in Dubai, wrote: “I stand for our users no matter what. Their right to privacy is sacred – now more than ever.”

Telegram was Ukraine’s most popular messaging app – the Observer newspaper reported.

But some experts have raised concerns about the security of users’ data.

Moxie Marlinspike, who developed the encryption used by rival platforms Signal- which he created – and WhatsApp, tweeted many users thought Telegram was an encrypted app, but it was “by default a cloud database with a plaintext copy of every message everyone has ever sent/received”.

Telegram maintains everything stored on its cloud is securely encrypted, however while all of its data is protected only some of its features use end-to-end encryption.

‘Any cost’
So-called Secret Chats, voice calls and video calls are end-to-end encrypted on Telegram so cannot be read by the company.

But in theory the company could access other encrypted content stored on Telegram’s servers.

And there have been concerns it could be forced to share user data with Russia.

But on Monday, its founder wrote a Telegram post the company said was “a commitment to protect user data at any cost”.

In the post, Mr Durov stressed his Ukranian heritage, on his mother’s side, writing the “tragic conflict is personal both to me and Telegram”.

“Some people wondered if Telegram is somehow less secure for Ukrainians, because I once lived in Russia,” he wrote.

“Let me tell these people how my career in Russia ended.”

Nine years ago, he had been chief executive of VK, a social network popular in Russia and Ukraine, Mr Durov wrote.

“In 2013, the Russian security agency, FSB, demanded that I provide them the private data of the Ukrainian users of VK who were protesting against a pro-Russian president,” he said.

“I refused to comply with these demands, because it would have meant a betrayal of our Ukrainian users.

“After that, I was fired from the company I founded and was forced to leave Russia.”

Billion downloads
As a result, he had lost his company and his home – but he would do it again.

“I smile with pride when I read my VK post from April 2014, which shows the scanned orders from the FSB and my trademark response to them – a dog in a hoodie,” Mr Durov wrote.

Last year, Telegram, based in Dubai, reached a billion downloads.

Users can set up:

groups with up to 200,000 users
channels an unlimited number can follow
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has used the app, which is home to many official Ukrainian government channels

Telegram was banned in Russia in 2018, after a previous refusal by Mr Durov to hand over user data.

But the ban was reversed in 2021.

And since the invasion of Ukraine, some Russian-language channels have seen increasing audiences.

Jordan Wildon, an analyst at Logically which analyses disinformation, said Russian-language channels that it monitors on Telegram have gained 2.7 million followers since the 24 February.

“About 800,000 of those were within the past week. We saw the most significant increase between the 24th and 28th” he said.

On 4 March, following sanctions and similar moves by the big social networks, Telegram blocked Russian state-backed media from its platform in the EU.

Mr Wildon said that after that date, “there was a notable drop in total followers. This appears to be due to actions taken by Telegram to restrict state media. However, total followers across the 183 Russian-language channels we monitor have been slowly increasing back to pre-restrictions levels.”

Mr Durov has previously voiced concerns about unverified information on the platform.

He had reportedly considered pulling the plug partially or completely on channels in countries involved in the conflict for the duration of hostilities, saying he did not want “Telegram to be used as a tool that exacerbates conflicts and incites ethnic hatred”.

But after appeals from users who said they relied on the app, he relented, while warning: “Double-check and do not take on faith the data that is published in Telegram channels during this difficult period.”

Russia has said it may close its main gas pipeline to Germany if the West goes ahead with a ban on Russian oil.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said a “rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market”, causing prices to more than double to $300 a barrel.

The US has been exploring a potential ban with allies as a way of punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

But Germany and the Netherlands rejected the plan on Monday.

The EU gets about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, and has no easy substitutes if supplies are disrupted.

In an address on Russian state television, Mr Novak said it would be “impossible to quickly find a replacement for Russian oil on the European market”.

“It will take years, and it will still be much more expensive for European consumers. Ultimately, they will be hurt the worst by this outcome,” he said.

Pointing to Germany’s decision last month to freeze certification of Nord Stream 2, a new gas pipeline connecting the two countries, he added that an oil embargo could prompt retaliation.

“We have every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the [existing] Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline,” he said.

Russia is the world’s top producer of natural gas and second top producer of crude oil, and any move to sanction its energy industry would badly damage its own economy.

Ukraine has implored the West to adopt such a ban, but there are concerns it would send prices soaring. Investor fears of an embargo drove Brent crude oil to $139 (£106) a barrel at one point on Monday – its highest level for almost 14 years.

Average UK petrol prices also hit fresh record of 155p a litre.

Brent crude – the global oil benchmark – rose by 3.7% to more than $127 a barrel in Asia trade on Tuesday.

Quoting unnamed sources, Reuters news agency reported that the US might be willing to move ahead with an embargo without its allies, although it only gets about 3% of its oil from Russia.

However, on Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed the idea of a wider ban, saying Europe had “deliberately exempted” Russian energy from sanctions because its supply could not be secured “any other way” at the moment.

European powers have, however, committed to move away from Russian hydrocarbons over time, while some Western companies have boycotted Russian shipments or pledged to divest their stakes in Russian energy companies.

Mr Novak said that Russian companies were already feeling the pressure of US and European moves to lower the dependence on Russian energy, despite fulfilling all its contractual obligations to deliver oil and gas to Europe.

‘Enormous pressure’
“We are concerned by the discussion and statements we are seeing regarding a possible embargo on Russian oil and petrochemicals, on phasing them out,” he said.

“We see our partners, traders, shipping companies, banks and financial institutions coming under enormous pressure.”

His comments came as a third round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia made little progress in Belarus.

More than 1.7 million Ukrainians have fled to Central Europe since the conflict began on 24 February, the United Nations refugee agency said on Monday, with over 1 million arriving in neighbouring Poland.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that Moscow would halt operations if Ukraine ceased fighting, amended its constitution to declare neutrality, and recognised Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the independence of regions held by Russian-backed separatists.

A Ukrainian negotiator said that although small progress on agreeing logistics for the evacuation of civilians had been made, things remained largely unchanged.

“As of now, there are no results that significantly improve the situation,” Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Video-sharing site TikTok and streaming giant Netflix have limited and cut their services respectively in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

TikTok said it had suspended live streaming and new content from its platform as it assesses tough new laws to crack down on “fake news” about Russia’s armed forces.

Netflix said it was pulling out in protest at the invasion.

Visa, Mastercard and PwC also joined the list of western firms cutting ties.

TikTok, which has around 36 million users in Russia, said its move was about ensuring the safety of its staff and users.

Since Friday, anyone who writes news deemed false about the military could face up to 15 years in jail.

Among other things, the Kremlin objects to the conflict being called a war, instead calling it a “special military operation”.

The BBC and other news outlets have already stopped reporting in Russia, saying they can no longer be independent.

In a series of Tweets, TikTok said: “In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend live-streaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law.

“Our in-app messaging service will not be affected.”

It added: “We will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances in Russia to determine when we might fully resume our services with safety as our top priority.”

Chinese-owned TikTok, which has one billion users worldwide, has been criticised for not speaking out against Russia invading Ukraine, unlike its peers Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Twitter.

But in a longer statement on its website on Sunday, it described the war in Ukraine as “devastating”, adding that it had “brought pain to our community and our people”.

TikTok says it “doesn’t break down user numbers by country” but we know that Russia is one of the company’s top territories.

It’s thought that around 36m people use the app and TikTok’s new rules reduce them to spectators of other people’s content.

TikTok says it’s making the move to protect its users from breaking Russia’s new “fake news” laws.

But it will no doubt help the company too.

Moderating social networks during times of crisis is hard enough, but having to vet content under the new draconian laws in Russia puts all platforms in a tough position.

I wouldn’t be surprised if other apps took similar measures to protect themselves.

Russia has many high-profile creators who make their living from TikTok so we can expect even more people to be motivated to protest themselves against the “fake news” laws.

The Kremlin may also lose out in the information war too with less pro-Russia content on people’s timelines.

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Last week, Netflix temporarily stopped all future projects and acquisitions in Russia as it assessed the impact of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

But on Sunday, a spokesperson said: “Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia.”

The firm launched in Russia in 2016 and only has 1 million subscribers there – a fraction of the 220 million it has worldwide.

But according to Variety magazine, the streaming platform – which operates in a joint venture in the country with Russia’s National Media Group – had four Russian originals in the works.

That includes the crime thriller series Zato, which was shooting and has since been put on hold.

A host of companies have suspended their operations in Russia since it attacked its neighbour, including Apple, Jaguar Land Rover, H&M and Burberry. Many other firms are reviewing their positions, while some are looking to offload stakes in Russian ventures.

On Sunday, two of the Big Four accounting firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) said they would no longer have a member firm in Russia because of the invasion.

Visa, Mastercard and American Express also suspended operations in Russia, although the country’s banks played down the impact on consumers.

Microsoft has stopped selling its products and services in Russia, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Major tech companies including Apple and Dell have made similar decisions.

Microsoft said it had paused other aspects of its business in the country to comply with government sanctions.

It added that it was providing cyber-security support to Ukraine to defend against cyber-attacks initiated by Russia.

“Since the war began, we have acted against Russian positioning, destructive or disruptive measures against more than 20 Ukrainian government, IT and financial sector organisations,” Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a statement.

Suspended operations
Several tech companies have also taken action to restrict Russian state-controlled media, such as RT and Sputnik.

Earlier this week, Microsoft removed RT’s mobile apps from the Windows app store.

Facebook, Google and YouTube have taken measures to restrict Russian state media from making money from ads on their platforms.

Cisco, Oracle, Netflix and Spotify have also suspended operations in the country.

Airbnb has stopped all bookings in Russia and Belarus, and has offered free housing to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities said: “We expect more tech stalwarts to head down the same path and pull the plug on Russia by this weekend, given the horrific atrocities seen coming out of Ukraine.”

By contrast, Chinese companies, including Huawei, Xiaomi and Alibaba, have so far declined to comment on whether they would cut their business ties in Russia, according to business news broadcaster CNBC.

It Takes Two, a co-operative game about a family break-up, and action title Returnal lead the way in the race for this year’s Bafta Games Awards.

They have each been nominated for eight of the famous golden masks.

Bafta has been recognising the cultural impact of games since 2004 and the awards are arguably the most prestigious in the gaming industry.

Ratchet and Clank, Forza Horizon 5, Psychonauts 2 and Deathloop have also been nominated in multiple categories.

After two virtual ceremonies during the Covid pandemic, this year will see a return to an in-person event in London on 7 April.

In a sign of the variety that is now on offer in the ever-growing gaming industry, you could not pick two more different titles than It Takes Two and Returnal.

The former, which picked up the main prize at last year’s Game Awards, is a throwback to gaming in the mid-1990s with it’s bright cartoon aesthetic and emphasis on local co-operative play.

With the dominance of online multiplayer gaming in recent years, the success of this title is an example of how players are calling for more experiences that allow them to connect with people in the same room. Heightened, no doubt, by the pandemic and lockdowns.

In the game, Cody and May are planning a divorce and their daughter Rose tries to bring them back together. Players must work with each other to solve a series of engaging puzzles. So successful has it been that the title’s developers are working on a movie version.

It has been nominated in categories like best game, artistic achievement and the “game beyond entertainment” category.

Returnal, on the other hand, is a dark, futuristic, psychological horror experience that involves frantic bursts of action.

The Playstation 5 exclusive makes the most of new console technology and has struck a chord with players for its compelling and challenging gameplay.

It was named game of the year at the Develop: Star Awards and has now been nominated in categories like best game, game design and technical achievement.

Sony bosses will be happy

Alongside Returnal, PlayStation bosses will be happy that two of its other exclusive games are among those with the most nominations.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, a game that is seen by some reviewers as one of the few titles to have made the most of the latest generation of consoles, has seven nominations.

Deathloop has five nominations, including best game. It has just missed out on winning big at various other ceremonies and will be a strong contender for the main prize.

The Bafta Games Awards love throwing up a surprise result. Last year, ancient Greece-themed action title Hades walked away with the main prize for best game.

Gaming’s cultural impact
The games industry is often seen, in mainstream press outlets, through the prism of its financial impact – worth £7bn to the UK economy.

The Bafta Games Awards gives the industry the opportunity to focus on the cultural impact gaming has on people’s lives.

Most winners will be selected by a panel of judges from the industry, but the public can vote for the EE Game of the Year Award.

Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Deathloop, It Takes Two, Metroid Dread, The Forgotten City and Unpacking are the six titles competing for the award.

Streaming giant Netflix has announced it has paused all future projects and acquisitions from Russia.

The company said it was assessing the impact of the current invasion of Ukraine.

Filming for the production of Russian language series Zato will be halted.

Elsewhere in tech, cloud computing company Oracle also said it has suspended operations in Russia.

The two companies are the latest US technology firms to take action against Russia as attacks on Ukraine’s cities have escalated.

On Tuesday, Apple also announced that it was halting sales in Russia.

Oracle’s announcement on Twitter came three hours after Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation tweeted the company, calling for support.

Deputy Minister Alexander Bornyakov told the Reuters news agency that Ukraine has sought help from 50 different companies – in a bid to apply pressure to Russia.

“More sanctions imposed, faster peace restored,” Borynakov said on social media.

In a tweet Oracle said: “On behalf of Oracle’s 150,000 employees around the world and in support of both the elected government of Ukraine and for the people of Ukraine”

In recent days, global brands including Shell, Nike, H&M and Boeing have cut ties or temporarily suspended sales in Russia.

Moscow has responded to foreign companies distancing themselves from Russia by temporarily restricting Russian asset sales by foreigners.

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin met with the president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs to discuss how it would attempt to minimise the impact of sanctions announced so far.

Netflix would not comment on how many people use its streaming service in Russia.

Earlier this week, however, it confirmed in a report by Hollywood Reporter that it would not carry Russian state channels.

“Given the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service,” a Netflix spokesperson told the magazine in a statement.

Under a law that only came into effect on 1 March, “audiovisual services” in the country with more than 100,000 users will be required to carry 20 major state television channels.