Netflix Stops its Services in Russia

Russian subscribers have lost access to Netflix, the latest Western company to withdraw due to the conflict in Ukraine.The Netflix website and apps were no longer available as of Friday, and a Netflix spokesperson confirmed that subscribers were no longer able to access them. "This is the fulfillment of the withdrawal from the Russian market" announced in March, a Netflix spokesperson told AFP on Monday.

The US-based platform announced its withdrawal from Russia in early March after Moscow sent thousands of troops into pro-Western Ukraine. According to the spokesperson, the company waited until the current billing cycle ended before disconnecting customers. With 221.8 million subscribers at the end of 2021, Netflix is the world's leading streaming platform, but it was a minor player in Russia.

In an April letter to shareholders, the company stated that it had lost 700,000 paid subscribers as a result of its withdrawal from Russia, blaming the move for the company's first global drop in subscribers in a decade. Since the start of Moscow's campaign in Ukraine on February 24, a slew of foreign companies have announced the suspension of operations or outright withdrawal from Russia.