BERLIN, March 2. /TASS/. DHL, an international company providing courier, package delivery, and express mail service, has suspended the delivery of goods and documents to Russia and Belarus due to the events in Ukraine, the company said in a statement on its website Wednesday.

"Our inbound services to Russia and Belarus have been suspended, which is why we are also not accepting shipments to those countries until further notice," the company said adding that it is "closely monitoring the situation" and will keep customers updated about any further developments.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.

After that, the US, the EU, the UK, and a number of other states announced that they would impose sanctions against Russian legal entities and individuals.