Tesla will reportedly pay its Ukrainian employees for at least three months if they’re conscripted to fight the Russian invasion of their home country.
“For any Tesla employees who is a Ukrainian national and has been asked to return to Ukraine for active duty as a reservist, we will maintain their employment and salary for 3 months, with a view to assessing after this period as needed,” Tesla noted in an email to its employees in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, according to CNBC.
In the email sent on Monday, Tesla also praised its employees for helping SpaceX – its chief Elon Musk’s space venture – to bring its Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine.
Tesla had reportedly provided lithium-ion battery systems known as Tesla Powerwalls to run the Starlink equipment in Ukraine.
Although the electric vehicle manufacturing company does not operate in Ukraine, Tesla said about 5,000 Tesla owners and other EV drivers in the country can get free vehicle charging at some of its Supercharger stations in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
“Within hours of implementation, Tesla emailed local owners announcing that several Supercharger stations near Ukraine could be used by Tesla and non-Tesla electric vehicles, free of charge,” the company noted.
“Tesla has opened free Supercharging at stations bordering Ukraine to support those impacted by the recent invasion,” it said in the email.
Tesla is not the only automobile manufacturer responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Carmakers General Motors and Ford also suspended their business in Russia earlier this month.
Swedish auto brand Volvo Cars also said it’s temporarily stopping its car delivery to Russia in light of “potential risks associated with trading material with Russia, including the sanctions imposed by the EU and US”.
A long list of other businesses, including McDonald’s, Lego, Starbucks, Apple, and Netflix have also halted some or all of their operations – or the delivery of their products – in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered.
To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
