The invasion by Russian military forces over the past week has been devastating for the people of Ukraine. Our thoughts continue to be with those affected.

Our first priority has been the well-being of our employees and their families. Our teams are working around the clock to ensure their safety, using all the resources at our disposal. We will keep our employees in mind across the region as we navigate through this crisis.

Following sanction orders, we have blocked several financial institutions from the Mastercard payment network. We will continue to work with regulators in the days ahead to fully meet our compliance obligations as they evolve.

Given the unfolding emergency, we are also working with our partners to direct funding and humanitarian assistance where it can have the greatest impact. Today we announced a $2 million contribution to the Red Cross, Save the Children and our employee assistance fund for humanitarian relief. We will actively pursue other opportunities to help aid organizations play our part in supporting the global relief effort.

Of the many roles we play, the most important is ensuring the safety and security of the global payments ecosystem and our own network. Our Cyber ​​& Intelligence and Corporate Security teams work with governments and partners around the world to ensure the stability, integrity and resilience of our systems, which are operating normally. We are committed to actively monitoring and responding quickly to cyberattacks, the threat of which is greatly increased in today’s environment.