People looking to help Ukrainians from afar have been booking empty Airbnb rentals in the country's hardest hit areas as a way to quickly send cash to the country under siege from Russian forces.
Russian forces are attempting to enter the capital city of Ukraine, but the Ukrainian military are fighting back. As the city descends into gunfire and chaos, the few apartments available to rent on Airbnb have been snapped up by people trying to help the war effort.
After one person booked an apartment with little intention of staying in the city, the host responded with hope that they will win and stop the horror. The apartment is located in Irpin town. Three waves of Russian tanks were stopped by our soldiers. This is our glory.
He promised to use the donation for charity and use the apartment to house people who have lost their homes in the war. Some of the streets of Irpin are what they are now.
People have been posting their conversations with hosts of the home-sharing service, who have expressed gratitude for the donations.
Feeling helpless, I booked an @Airbnb in Kiev for a stay this week knowing the money would go direct to someone there. There were no air bnb fees attached. This is the beautiful response I got. She also told me they know the world supports them and they can all feel it 💛💙😠pic.twitter.com/j9h88AEvit
— Kate Hutchison (@hutch8) March 3, 2022
Yesterday I shared an idea to support Ukraine by booking rooms for rent on AirBNB. 24 hours later, 100's of people are booking AirBnBs in Ukraine as a way to send immediate monetary assistance to people in hard-hit areas. The messages in response from the hosts are so moving pic.twitter.com/ai2Je8VKCt
— IG: @quentin.quarantino (@quentquarantino) March 3, 2022
The fees for guest and host were nixed so the rental fees went directly to the Ukrainian hosts. The vacation rental app said in a statement to Fortune that it is waiving host and guest fees in Ukraine at the moment.
Some on the social networking site warned users to check the reviews before trying to help, as Russian scam artists may try to set up fake listings in Ukranian to cash in on noble intentions.
Brian Chesky, the chief executive of Airbnb, announced on Thursday morning that it would be suspending its operations in Russia and Belarus.
Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus
— Brian Chesky 🇺🇦 (@bchesky) March 4, 2022
More than a million people from Ukraine have fled Russia's invasion, and the United Nations says as many as 4 million people could be affected. Fourteen governments have already been reached by the project.
More than 357,000 visitors have visited the site to donate or become a host for refugees, and the response has been overwhelming.
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