An open letter to the world’s biggest tech companies: block your services in Russia

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@TechForUA

On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation carried out a horrendous military attack on Ukraine, its citizens, targeting civilians, kindergartens and hospitals, seemingly with a presumption to accomplish its goals fast and stay immune - just like countless times before. 

This is not a case for Ukraine - not only will we defend our country, but we will also fight for democracy and freedom, not just for Ukraine, but all of the free world. For this, we need your peaceful support: modern technology is one of the strongest answers to beat the tanks and missiles attacking our homes and our people.

In this open letter, we ask you to do what is under your control - block your services in Russia and help end Putin’s reign of terror. By doing so, you can express solidarity with the suffering Ukrainians and show that not only governments can help with sanctioning Russia. You have the power to do that, and we ask you to take responsibility and help us. 

It’s been four days since the first air raids, us waking up to sirens, bombs landing in residential buildings, and killing civilians on the streets of their cities in Ukraine. In the four days, many global companies have already joined us. FedEx, UPS suspended services in and out of the country. Chipset makers Intel and AMD will not sell to Russia. Volvo, Volkswagen, Renault stopped production lines in Russia. Elon Musk has come to our aid and activated Starlink over Ukraine to make sure Ukrainians won't be cut off from the internet. Every single one of these actions makes a huge difference, and this is why we need you to take action too.

We believe that limiting your services in Russia will push the people of Russia to see what is happening, feel accountable for their state’s crimes, and stand up against the authoritarian rule of terror. Please stand with us.

We ask you to block your services in Russia, condemn Russian aggression. DO NOT BE SILENT! 

Sincerely yours, 
Startup Community of Ukraine,
Writing to you from a bomb shelter Working on Help99 website on day 2 of the war, in a bomb shelter in Kyiv with children in the background
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