Discovery Suspends Operations in Russia Amid War on Ukraine, 15 Channels Will Go Off Air

Sting announced today that proceeds from his recently re-recorded 1985 song “Russians” will benefit Ukrainian humanitarian and medical aid.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify, which suspended its paid subscription service in Russia earlier this month due to that country’s unprovoked and bloody invasion of Ukraine, has announced it will “fully suspend our service in Russia,” apparently indefinitely. It joins dozens of other music companies that have ceased operations in the country.“Spotify has continued to believe that it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to provide trusted, independent news and information in the region.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are continuing to do their bit to support Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country.

Sasha Urban editorArnold Schwarzenegger released a nine-minute video Thursday addressed to the people of Russia, urging the government to end the war in Ukraine and denouncing state propaganda.“I know that your government has told you this is a war to denazify Ukraine,” the actor and former California governor said. “Denazify Ukraine? This is not true. Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president.

Stars attending the EE BAFTA Awards on Sunday night have reportedly been encouraged to “dress respectfully” due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.The prestigious event is one of the biggest nights in the showbiz calendar, with stars gathering at London’s Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the best of the last year in film. Sunday evening’s ceremony is expected to see stars such as Lady Gaga, Benedict Cumberbatch, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Emma Watson grace the red carpet.

An American journalist was killed by Russian troops in Ukraine on Sunday (March 13), according to Ukranian police. Brent Renaud, a 51-year-old award-winning writer and filmmaker, was fatally shot when Russian forces opened fire on a car near the Romanivsky Bridge in the town of Irpin, near the capital of Kyiv, per a Facebook post by the head of Kyiv’s regional police unit, Andriy Nebytov. Another reporter was also wounded in the attack and hospitalized, Nebytov wrote.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSony Music has suspended all of its operations in Russia, the company has confirmed to Variety. “Sony Music Group calls for peace in Ukraine and an end to the violence. We have suspended operations in Russia and will continue our support of global humanitarian relief efforts to aid victims in need.,” the company said in a statement.Sources tells Variety that the company’s staffers will continue to receive their salaries for an undetermined time; the artists’ situation is still being worked out.Universal Music Group announced that it is suspending its operations in the country on Tuesday.

Sean Penn spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak on Wednesday. Following the conversation, the actor, who has been in Ukraine since the war with Russia began, took to Twitter to weigh in on the country's need for jets. "I JUST got off a call with President Zelensky’s Chief of staff, Andriy Yermak," he wrote.

Christopher Vourlias Before the Russian army launched an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, French war correspondent Loup Bureau was embedded in Donbass, the restive borderland in Eastern Ukraine, which since 2014 has been the site of an ongoing conflict between Russian-backed separatist groups and Ukrainian government forces.Reports were circulating of an impending Russian attack. Bureau, who had already spent time in the region while shooting his feature-length documentary “Trenches” – screening next week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – expected it to be a localized skirmish.

David Beckham is doing what he can to support Ukraine.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNetflix has suspended its service in Russia to protest the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The streaming service previously announced this week that it would pause all future projects and acquisitions from Russia, joining a growing list of companies that have cut ties with the country. Netflix had four Russian originals in the works, including a crime thriller series directed by Dasha Zhuk, which was shooting and has been put on hold.

Mastercard has suspended operations in Russia, with Visa soon looking to do the same, according to multiple reports. The moves on the part of the financial services corporations are the latest to hit the country’s financial system, following its invasion of Ukraine.

Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, is returning his Russian honour.

Chris Willman Music WriterHit songwriter Ross Golan, who has crafted smashes for Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, One Direction and Demi Lovato, has started a petition on Change.org asking the music community to stop licensing songs in Russia for as long as the nation wages war on Ukraine.The petition, posted Thursday afternoon here, was put up for the purpose of allowing songwriters to make their voices heard in requesting that collection agencies sever ties with their counterpart orgs in Russia, to ensure that they won’t be profiting from the rogue-superpower nation while the bloody siege of its neighbor country continues.“Currently, a portion of our royalties are going directly to the Russian government, which in turn funds their invasion into Ukraine,” Golan says. The petition — credited to “And the Writer Is,” the podcast Golan started to spotlight writers and their issues — reads: “The global songwriting business stands with Ukraine.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent shockwaves around the world. Amid the chaos and destruction, the international distribution community, which we record, is reacting in real time with dismay and uncertainty. The human impact is stark and overwhelming. Inevitably, there are significant consequences for local businesses.

Naman Ramachandran Global rights management company Eccho Rights has licensed “Servant of the People,” the 2016 series created by and starring Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, to Channel 4 in the U.K., MBC in the Middle East, ANT 1 in Greece and PRO TV in Romania, in solidarity with Ukraine and Zelensky.Fredrik af Malmborg, managing director at Eccho Rights, said: “Eccho Rights stands in solidarity with our friends and partners in Ukraine. It is our position that the best support the global television industry can offer to Ukraine today is to share this story.”Three seasons of the series and feature film are available to license from Eccho Rights.Nicola Söderlund, managing partner at Eccho, said: “The series is a comedy but also an important document of where Zelensky comes from.

Primary school children were held by police in the back of a van for waving anti-war placards at a protest in Russia, an opposition politician has claimed.