The National Hockey League (NHL) has suspended its ties with Russian business partners and paused its Russian-language coverage of the ice hockey action.
The league confirmed the move on Monday, in response to the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to begin a military assault on its neighbour in the early hours of Thursday morning, with hundreds of civilians having died in the conflict since.
His actions have been widely condemned, including in the sporting world where various leagues, clubs and governing bodies have all taken action.
The NHL is the latest to take such a step, announcing that it had now ruled out any consideration of hosting any future league competitions in Russia.
"The National Hockey League condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible," the league said in a statement.
"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."
The NHL's action comes after the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) banned both Russia and Belarus from all tournaments "until further notice".
The ban covers all age groups from junior teams to their flagship groups, while Russia has also been stripped of the 2023 World Junior Championships.
While the NHL's teams are based across the USA and Canada, many of the league's top players hail from Russia.
That includes the 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy recipient Andei Vasilevskiy, as well as recent Hart Trophy winners Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Nikita Kucherov.
The day after Russia launched its invasion, Ovechkin used a press conference to plead with the leaders of his homeland to cease hostilities.
"It's a hard situation. I have family back in Russia and it is scary moments," he said. "But we can't do anything. We just hope it going to be end soon and everything is going to be all right.
"Please, no more war. It doesn't matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries — I think we live in a world, like, we have to live in peace and a great world."
