Consumer giants including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks have joined the list of firms halting business in Russia due to the invasion in Ukraine.

McDonald's said it was temporarily closing its roughly 850 restaurants in Russia, while Starbucks also said its 100 coffee shops would shut.

On Wednesday, Heineken stopped beer production and sales in Russia.

And Mothercare said all business in Russia, which represents 20% to 25% of its global sales, had been stopped.

The moves by McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks come after mounting pressure on companies to act over the war in Ukraine. All three firms said they would continue to pay their staff.

Anna MacDonald, a fund manager at Amati Global Investors, told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme that firms who were joining the wave of firms leaving Russia were doing so because "shareholders and wider stakeholders wouldn't stand for continued generation of revenues and profits" from the country,

"It was affecting their share prices and the feeling was that it was just utterly inappropriate to continue to do so," she said.

McDonald's established a presence in Moscow in 1990 as the Soviet Union was opening its economy, and it drew thousands for its burgers and fries. Its closure now carries similar symbolic weight, and could influence other firms.

However, fast-food chain rival Burger King has not said it will stop its operations in Russia. It committed $3m (£2.3m) to support Ukrainian refugees and said people feeling to European nations could get free Whopper meal vouchers.

Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King, said it would redirect its profits from more than 800 franchised operations in Russia to humanitarian efforts.

McDonald's chief executive Chris Kempczinski said it was "impossible to predict" when it would reopen in Russia.

The AzVision.az is not responsible for the content of the article.

More about: