DJI, the Chinese drone maker, halts business in Russia and Ukraine

Hong Kong CNN Business — DJI, the world’s top drone maker, will temporarily stop doing business in Russia and Ukraine. The move marks a rare exit from Russia by a prominent Chinese company since the war started, and comes after Ukrainian authorities claimed that DJI’s drones were being used by the Russian military. In a brief statement on Tuesday, the Shenzhen-basedcompany said “it is internally reassessing compliance requirements in various jurisdictions,” and would “temporarily suspend all business activities in Russia and Ukraine” in “light of current hostilities.” DJI has repeatedly said that it opposesany military use of its products. In the letter, he allegedthat Russian troops were “using DJI products in order to navigate” missile attacks, and called on the company to stop doing business in Russia until the violence stopped. In a written response to CNN Business, DJI said “we absolutely deplore any use of our products to cause harm.” The company referred to a previous statement issued in March, where it reiterated that it did not market or sell products for military use and “unequivocally opposed attempts to attach weapons to our products.” The firm said it had also pledged to cut business ties with distributors if they did not commit to an agreement to refuse sale of DJI’s products “to customers who clearly plan to use them for military purposes, or help modify our products for military use.”