With operations in Ukraine and neighboring regions, the major ad groups are taking numerous steps to help employees and their families who are in harm’s way or otherwise impacted by the conflict. And along with most of the rest of the global business community, they’ve condemned Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, reports MediaPost.

“Our focus is on the safety of our 200 people in Ukraine,” WPP CEO Mark Read wrote to staffers in a memo issued Monday afternoon. “We have been in constant contact with each of our leaders there, who have been checking in with their teams at least twice daily.”

Read said the company paid additional amounts to employees in the region last week to help meet their immediate needs and have given them access to medical advice and other practical resources. “Our agency leaders in Kyiv are showing remarkable calmness and the way in which our people are looking after each other is truly inspiring,” Read wrote.

According to MediaPost, Read also noted that WPP employees in neighboring countries are assisting traumatized colleagues seeking to evacuate the Ukraine. Staffers in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and elsewhere are opening their homes and offices and providing critical supplies to Ukrainian colleagues who have been able to get out of the country. Donations are also being collected to provide support.

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PHOTO: Gulf News