Match Group, the owner of popular dating apps Tinder and Hinge, has announced that it will be withdrawing from the Russian market by June 30.

The decision to leave the market comes more than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin directed the invasion of Ukraine, triggering the severance of business relationships between Moscow and numerous Western companies.

Match Group will now take measures to limit access to their services and plans to completely withdraw from the Russian market by the end of June. Until May 2023 Match Group had remained relatively tight-lipped about its Russian operations, but it did flag potential negative impacts on its European business in March 2022.

The company’s withdrawal from Russia comes over a year after its primary competitor, Bumble Inc., blocked downloads in both Russia and Belarus. Alongside the Bumble App, Bumble Inc. also owns Badoo.

"We are committed to protecting human rights," Match said, in an annual impact report published on Monday, quoted by Reuters.  "Our brands are taking steps to restrict access to their services in Russia and will complete their withdrawal from the Russian market by June 30, 2023."

Friends Fiduciary Corp., a prominent company shareholder, praised the move and said that it sets an example for other companies to follow.

"It's not a good look for a trusted brand to be continuing operations in a nation where the head of state has been indicted by the International Criminal Court,” Jeff Perkins, executive director at Friends Fiduciary, told Reuters.

Many Western digital services providers, including Spotify, Dropbox, Meta and Netflix, pulled out of Russia in 2022, shortly after the start of the full-scale invasion.