As reported by the Portland Business Journal, Nike has temporarily halted sales through its Russian website and app, stating that the company “cannot guarantee delivery of goods to customers in Russia.” The news came after major logistics companies such as UPS and FedEx announced they would temporarily suspend their services in the country. While the reference to possible delivery difficulties is not a direct position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it does put Nike in line with companies responding to the crisis. Most recently, for example, Keen donated $55,000 to help Ukrainian refugees. Haglöfs and Mammut also wrote on LinkedIn that they have donated through the accounts of UNHCR and UNICEF, and they are certainly not the only ones. Outside of the sports world, tech giant Apple also stopped selling products in Russia this week. Apple said in a statement that it has also disabled traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens. Google has done the same for its Maps service.
Update 03/04/22: According to Reuters, Nike said it was deeply troubled by the devastating crisis in Ukraine and it would be pausing operations in Russia, now also temporarily closing all its own stores in Russia. The company also said its foundation would be donating $1 million to the UN Children’s Fund and the International Rescue Committee to support relief efforts.
