As days of tensions rapidly escalated in Ukraine after Russian forces entered the country, the recent developments have also affected the businesses in the country with Turkish ready-made clothing stores closing down.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had massed some 150,000 troops on the border in recent months, announced that they have launched a special military operation in eastern Ukraine with explosions heard early Thursday morning in several cities, including the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Several Turkish brands, namely LC Waikiki, Colin's and English Home, have closed around 200 stores in the country for security reasons, a report by Turkish economics daily Dünya stated.
Letters were sent from shopping malls to relevant brands regarding the closures, the report noted.
Among the brands with the most branches in the country, Colin's has 60 stores, LC Waikiki has around 50 and English Home has 33 stores. Meanwhile, the brands have suspended their plans for new store openings in the coming period.
LC Waikiki which has stores in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Jıtomır, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Krivoy Rog, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and other cities, was planning to open 10 more stores in the country by 2023.
Colin’s, meanwhile, started its operations in Ukraine 22 years ago and now its total sales area is around 25,000 square meters (269,098 square feet). The stores are located in more than 30 cities of the country.
Russian forces broke into the Kyiv region on Thursday, as the FSB claimed Ukrainian border guards have abandoned all facilities on the Russia-Ukraine border.
Ukraine's armed forces find themselves vastly outnumbered and outmatched in firepower by their Russian opponents, despite growing military assistance for Kyiv's troops by the West.
