DHL suspends deliveries to Russia and Belarus

German logistics giant DHL announced Wednesday it was stopping deliveries to Russia and Belarus, joining a growing list of Western businesses to cease operations in the countries after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The "inbound services to Russia and Belarus have been suspended", DHL said in a statement, adding that it was "not accepting shipments to those countries until further notice".

DHL, one of the world's largest logistics groups, also closed its operation and offices in Ukraine until further notice to protect the "safety of our employees", it said.

An increasing number of Western companies have broken off ties with Russia, which is the target of sanctions.

German logistics group DB Schenker announced the suspension of some services in Russia on Tuesday.

Air freight deliveries to and from Europe were stopped after a number of Western countries blocked Russian planes from their airspace, DB Schenker said, while overland services continued with delays.

DB Schenker also suspended all services to and from the Ukraine. 

The Swiss logistics group Kuehne+Nagel on Tuesday similarly suspended all import shipments "with immediate effect and pending further notice" with the exception of medical and humanitarian deliveries.

Kuehne+Nagel likewise halted its operations in the Ukraine.

The world's biggest shipping companies on Tuesday also announced they were holding off on non-essential deliveries to Russia.

Danish shipping giant Maersk, Switzerland-based MSC and France's CMA CGM all announced that they would no longer take bookings for goods from Russia and were suspending most deliveries.