NHL condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 'urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible'

The NHL is taking a stand against Russia and its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In a news release Monday, the league outlined measures it has put in place as reprimand for Russia's actions.

«The National Hockey League condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible,» the statement read. «Effective immediately, we are suspending our relationships with our business partners in Russia and we are pausing our Russian language social and digital media sites. In addition, we are discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL.

»We also remain concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL clubs, and not on behalf of Russia. We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position."

Going forward, the NHL intends to pull its games from Russian-based Yandex, one of Europe's largest Internet companies. That partnership goes back to 2019, and the sides signed a multi-year extension earlier this year. Yandex airs NHL games live and on-demand as part of its Yandex Plus subscription service; according to the NHL, while it won't be immediate, the plan is to remove NHL content from the site for the foreseeable future. The League also intends to put its relationship with Russia betting partner Liga Stavok on hold.

Russia launched its invasion of the Ukraine on February 24, generating major international backlash. The NHL's denouncement of the attacks comes after the International Ice Hockey Federation also issued a decree against Russia on Monday.

In its own announcement, the IIHF said it has banned teams from Belarus and Russia from participating in