Putin tells businesses: support conflict, be complicit in war crimes or leave Russia

Multinational companies in Russia are now obliged to assist the Kremlin with war mobilization: a Business 4 Ukraine note:

***

International companies, including banks, are now obliged to assist the Kremlin’s war mobilization by helping conscript soldiers and equip the army. Between them, they have at least 700,000 employees and $141 billion in assets, according to an analysis by B4Ukraine – a coalition of Ukrainian and international civil society organizations. B4Ukraine is urging multinationals to leave Russia immediately to avoid becoming directly complicit in Russia’s devastating war, war crimes, and atrocities in Ukraine.

On September 21, 2022, almost seven months into Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization in Russia. The accompanying legislation on mobilization - known as Article 9 of Federal Law No. 31-FZ - mandates all organizations, including international companies, to conduct military registration of the staff if at least one of the employees is liable for military service. They must also assist with delivering the summons from the military to their employees, ensure the delivery of equipment to assembly points or military units, and provide buildings, communications, land plots, transport and other material means as well as information.

“Putin’s actions make the clearest demands on businesses to date: either support the conflict and be complicit in war crimes or leave Russia. Normally, we shouldn’t see such a clear binary in a conflict situation: leaders should not require businesses to participate in war crimes, but that’s what Putin is doing now. The impact is clear: foreign businesses need to cut their ties. This can result in significant losses for those businesses but the alternative is worse. This should also send a clear signal to businesses that they need a better plan of action for how they disengage from situations of conflict and authoritarianism,” said Tara Van Ho, Co-Director of the Essex Business & Human Rights Project at the University of Essex.

The legislation applies to all of the 1,610 companies that are currently operating on a full or limited scale in Russia. Analysis from the Kyiv School of Economics reveals that 87% of people employed by multinationals in Russia work for companies from 10 countries: the USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Japan, Italy, Greece, China, and the Netherlands. In particular, US companies employ 251,294 people in Russia, French companies employ 123,642 people, and German companies employ 91,280 people. These companies work in the automotive sector, food and drinks, tobacco, retail, pharma, electronics sector, and many others.

According to Russian media, businesses have already begun preparations for a possible mobilization of employees, including creating special mobilization departments. “So far, most of the multinationals operating in Russia have been indirectly involved in the war by paying taxes to the Russian state, contributing to the war economy. Now the Kremlin’s mobilization makes companies directly involved in conscripting the soldiers among their employees who will come to Ukraine to kill and occupy,” said Nataliia Popovych, Founder of One Philosophy and WeAreUkraine.info, adding: “It gives carte blanche to Russia’s authorities to pull resources from companies. This is a red flag for companies who have chosen to remain in Russia. Your risk of complicity in Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine is now very real.”

“Regardless of whether a business is under sanctions, the international responsibilities for companies are clearly set out in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,” added Popovych. “It is an obligation for international companies to understand how their operations cause, contribute to or are linked to impacts on rights-holders and the conflict itself. How a company chooses to meet its obligations to protect and respect rights in Ukraine will define its reputation far beyond Russia for years to come.”

---

The B4Ukraine coalition is an informal initiative driven by civil society groups, policy think tanks, researchers, and concerned professionals from Ukraine and around the world. A common purpose unites the coalition members: to block access to the economic and financial resources enabling Russian aggression, which is an attack on the rules-based international order itself

Comments

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

The selective memory of a violent city: Uttam Nagar and the invisible victims of Delhi

By Sunil Kumar* Hundreds of murders take place in Delhi every year, yet only a few incidents become topics of nationwide discussion. The question is: why does this happen? Today, the incident in Uttam Nagar has become the centre of national debate. A 26-year-old man, Tarun Kumar, was killed following a dispute that reportedly began after a balloon hit a small child. In several colonies of Delhi, slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” are being raised while demanding the death penalty for Tarun’s killers. As a result, nearly 50,000 residents of Hastsal JJ Colony are now living in what resembles a state of confinement.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Gujarat government urged to introduce heat-stress safety rules for construction workers

By A Representative A representation submitted to Gujarat Labour, Skill Development and Employment Minister Kunvarji Bavaliya has urged the state government to introduce legally enforceable safety standards to protect construction workers from extreme heat and heatwaves, and to launch a financial assistance scheme for labourers affected by climate-related health risks.

Search This Blog