Six months ago Yuriy Vernydub was winning at Real Madrid, one week ago he was managing in the Europa League. Now, he is in Ukraine and ready to fight.

In a blog post published Friday morning, Microsoft president Brad Smith confirmed the company “will suspend all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia.” It didn’t go into further detail about what that looks like or specify what meaningful financial impact the move will have on its businesses, as CD Projekt Red did yesterday while announcing a ban on services to Russia and Belarus. In response to a request for more information by The Verge, a spokesperson said the company had nothing more to share at this time.

Russia and its websites will remain on the internet. In the meantime, both Anonymous and US companies are maintaining their pressure on Russia's internet presence.

Ten major car and motorcycle groups announced factory closures or froze sales to Russia as the industrial fallout from the country’s invasion of Ukraine spread on Wednesday. Porsche and BMW became the latest carmakers to shut European plants because of a lack of parts from Ukraine, while Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai, which is one of the largest brands in Russia, said they would cease manufacturing in the country. Ford, Renault, and BMW have already closed Russian plants.

Organisers say other teams are "threatening not to compete" so they are changing their stance "to preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants".

British and Dutch gas prices soared over 30% on Wednesday morning, driven by anxiety over the continued supply of Russian gas and possible sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The British day-ahead gas price < TRGBNBPD1> rose 85 pence to 380 p/therm by 1052 GMT. The April contract jumped 68.50 pence to 360 pence/therm.

While news about the rising death toll, destruction and casualties in Ukraine continue to grip headlines across the world, the story being told to Russian citizens is very different. For those watching TV in the country, the weekend began like any other: chat shows, old movies and regular programmes. By afternoon, however, it had “kicked into high gear, with pundits on debate shows either downplaying or outright denying that an invasion was taking place,” The Guardian noted.

Phone giant Apple said early this morning it has stopped selling iPhones and other popular products in Russia in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The company is one of the latest major corporations to boycott the country following the invasion ordered by Russian president Vladimir Putin last week.

Some Russian troops have been surrendering to Ukrainian forces "without a fight" as morale drops amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, a US senior defense official told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday. The US official said that there has been evidence "of a certain risk averse behavior by the Russian military," in the last six days since Russia launched its attack on the eastern European country, CNN reported.

The war in Ukraine has led to outrage in the West, but in Russia TV viewers see a very different story.

This comes after it limited Apple Pay in the country.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, YouTube has blocked Russian news channels RT and Sputnik across Europe. On Twitter, Google confirmed the news, saying that it would “take time for our systems to fully ramp up” and that it would continue to “monitor the situation around the clock to take quick action.”

Ukrainian entrepreneur Max Polyakov was emotional and, at times, angry, during a 20-minute call with reporters on Monday evening as he spoke about the attack by the Russian military on his homeland. "Within one hour there will be an attack on Kyiv again," Polyakov said, pointing emphatically to his watch. "We need the data now."

More sporting bodies sanctioned Russian and Belarusian athletes on Tuesday over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the governing bodies for badminton, rowing and skiing banning athletes from the two countries from international competition.

Millions of people are flocking to platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Twitter for round-the-clock updates the Russian invasion of Ukraine – renewing scrutiny of the outsized role that tech companies play in disseminating news of war. Social media has long been instrumental in distributing frontline footage, but Ukraine presents a new scale of global conflict for private platforms to navigate.

Warner Bros. is halting the release of “The Batman” in Russia, just days before it was to open in theaters there, as Hollywood moved to cease distribution plans in the country following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The premium currency for a child’s video game has a stronger exchange rate than Russian money.

The ExoMars mission, postponed in 2020 because of the pandemic and technical issues, may miss its window to launch this year because of sanctions imposed against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Meta Platforms said a hacking group used Facebook to target a handful of public figures in Ukraine, including prominent military officials, politicians and a journalist, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of the country.

"Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver opened his Sunday show talking about Ukraine and picking on Applebee's and CNN for the unfortunate commercial break during the bombing. "As we are all now painfully aware, Vladimir Putin, Russian president and World War III edgelord, began an assault on the second-largest country in Europe this week, shelling several cities and sending troops across the border.