Fast food retail giant McDonald’s has announced that it will temporarily shut down all 850 stores in Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin’s military assault on Ukraine.

On Tuesday, CEO Chris Kempczinski sent an email to all its employees and franchisees announcing that it will be closing all restaurants and halting all operations in Russia, citing the “unspeakable suffering to innocent people” in Ukraine.

“In the thirty-plus years that McDonald’s has operated in Russia, we’ve become an essential part of the 850 communities in which we operate,” Mr Kempczinski wrote in his letter.

“At the same time, our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine,” the statement added.

The fast-food restaurant added that it would continue to pay its 62,000 Russian employees and that its Ronald McDonald House Charities will continue to operate.

Mr Kempczinski also wrote that McDonald’s had donated $5 million to its employee assistance fund. 

McDonald’s first opened 32 years ago in Moscow, before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The move from McDonald’s follows the growing calls for a boycott on Twitter, #BoycottMcDonalds, and warnings from investors that continued presence in Russia may complicate its position in terms of global trade.

Reuters cited the chief of New York state’s pension fund, a McDonald’s investor, as saying that McDonald’s “needs to consider whether doing business in Russia is worth the risk during this extraordinarily volatile time.”

Brands like Netflix, Google and Shell have all exited the Russian market in opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.