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When the first airstrikes fell on Ukraine in February 2022, corporate executives with operations or holdings in Russia were forced to pick a side. This decision had significant implications. Russia remains a major business market, with a population of 145 million; its 2022 GDP was a staggering $2.24tn (£1.81tn), right behind France. Fleeing companies would leave a lot of revenue on the table. Yet amid a gruelling war, with tens of thousands of civilian casualties and widespread international condemnation of Russia, companies risked severe reputational damage by staying put. Plus, a mix of international pressure, sanctions and risks of Russian government interference offered strong reasons for companies to leave when the conflict began. "Some decided to stay, some decided to go very quickly, and some dragged their feet," says Roman Sidortsov, an associate professor of energy policy at Michigan Technological University, US, who practised corporate law and taught in Russia. One of the biggest companies to pull out almost immediately was British Petroleum, which exited just three days after the conflict began. By 1 March, BMW also announced it would halt Russian production and imports. And after first announcing a plan to leave Russia in March 2022, Heineken sold off its Russian business to Russian packaging firm Arnest for a single euro this August, taking a €300m ($319m; £257m) loss on the division. Experts disagree on exactly how many companies have left Russia – and what constitutes a 'full departure'. The Kyiv School of Economics Institute, which tracks the status of foreign companies selling or operating in Russia through its Leave Russia project, estimates around 300 have left. According to a similar list compiled by the Yale School of Management's Chief Executive Leadership Institute (CELI), roughly a thousand companies have exited. However, hundreds of foreign companies continue to operate in, or sell to, Russia. The KSE Institute claims 1,400 companies are still conducting business in some form within the country; by the CELI’s count, around 500 companies are doing so. A recognisable name on the KSE list is PepsiCo. In early September, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention accused the multinational soft-drink giant of continuing to produce food products in Russia despite it discontinuing Pepsi-Cola, 7Up and Miranda production. Tech and finance giants, including Chinese firm Alibaba, also continue to conduct business there, as does British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca. Airlines including Emirates, China Eastern and Air Serbia still openly advertise flights to Russia on their websites. Other businesses, like Indian refiner Chennai Petroleum, are gearing up instead of exiting: the company is expanding its services to Russia because of the invasion. Critics of companies that have remained in Russia, including Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute founder Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, denounce these businesses as greedy, or even complicit in Russia's invasion. But ceasing operations in a country with such major business implications isn't simple. Some businesses remain because of a lack of pressure on them to leave, or due to an existential threat. Others believe staying is the most humane option for their consumers. Why stay? Companies choose to continue operations in Russia for all sorts of reasons, despite immense public pressure from both consumers and governments. The simplest is financial solvency. Growing revenue and maintaining market share is critical for any firm, especially one dependent on Russian consumers. Andreas Rasche, a professor of business in society at the Copenhagen Business School's Centre for Sustainability, offers the example of family-owned German chocolate brand Ritter Sport, which pledged to stop investing and advertising in Russia, but still sells its products in the country. "They get 7% of their overall revenue out of Russia," he says. "They don't simply leave the market because, for them, it would potentially hurt a lot."