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Amazon announced on March 8, 2022 that it was suspending Prime Video access for customers based in Russia and would no longer accept Russian orders for New World. The same update also suspended retail shipments to Russia and Belarus and blocked new Russia- and Belarus-based AWS customers and Amazon third-party sellers.
This was a targeted regional response to the Russia-Ukraine war—not a worldwide Prime Video outage, a global delisting of New World, or an announcement that every existing Amazon cloud service in Russia had immediately ended.
What Amazon announced on March 8, 2022
In its official statement, Amazon said the measures were being taken “given the ongoing situation in Russia and Ukraine.” The announcement combined entertainment, gaming, retail, cloud-computing and marketplace decisions:
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- New World: Amazon stopped accepting orders in Russia. Amazon described it as the only video game it sold directly there at the time.
- Retail: Shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus were suspended.
- AWS: Amazon stopped accepting new AWS customers based in Russia and Belarus.
- Marketplace: New third-party sellers based in Russia and Belarus could no longer sign up.
What “suspending Prime Video” meant
The wording referred specifically to Prime Video streaming access for customers based in Russia. It did not say that Amazon had canceled Prime memberships worldwide, removed Prime Video from every Russian-speaking market, or imposed a global outage. It also did not establish how location was determined or whether a user traveling abroad—or using a VPN—could bypass the restriction.
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The cited announcement confirms the March 2022 action, but it does not by itself verify whether Prime Video availability in Russia later changed. Any claim about its status today needs a current official Amazon source.
What stopping New World orders meant
“Stopped taking orders” is narrower than “blocked the game.” Amazon said it would no longer accept new Russian orders through its direct sales channel. The announcement did not say that existing owners immediately lost access, received automatic refunds, or were disconnected from global servers. Nor did it say that every reseller or distribution channel stopped operating.
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It also did not announce a worldwide cancellation or claim that the move was caused by the game’s commercial performance.
Russia and Belarus were not treated identically in the wording
Both countries were named for the suspension of retail shipments, the rejection of new AWS sign-ups and the end of new third-party-seller onboarding. However, Amazon’s Prime Video and New World language specifically referred to customers or orders in Russia. The statement alone does not support saying that Belarus lost those same entertainment services.
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Did Amazon leave Russia completely?
Not based on this announcement. Amazon listed specific suspensions and said it was no longer accepting new Russia- and Belarus-based AWS customers, but it did not announce the immediate termination of every existing AWS account, workload or Amazon service. Contemporary coverage likewise described a halt to new cloud customers rather than proof that all existing cloud operations had been cut off.
Amazon also stated that it had no data centers, infrastructure or offices in Russia and that it had a long-standing policy of not doing business with the Russian government. Those are statements from Amazon, not evidence that sanctions legally compelled the Prime Video decision; the company attributed the actions to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation.
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Wider corporate response
The March 8 update arrived as technology, entertainment, retail and gaming companies restricted business in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Amazon said it was supporting humanitarian efforts, including a $5 million donation and matching employee contributions at the time. Those efforts were separate from the specific service and sales restrictions.
What happened to New World: Aeternum later?
Amazon later announced a separate, worldwide end-of-life plan for New World: Aeternum. According to the game’s January 15, 2026 announcement and its official FAQ:
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- The game was delisted on January 15, 2026.
- In-game purchases ended on July 20, 2026.
- Servers are scheduled to shut down globally on January 31, 2027.
- Existing owners could continue downloading and playing until the scheduled shutdown.
Those dates describe a later global lifecycle decision. The 2026 material does not, by itself, connect the shutdown to Amazon’s March 2022 Russia policy, so the two events should not be presented as cause and effect.
Bottom line
On March 8, 2022, Amazon suspended Prime Video access for customers in Russia and stopped accepting Russian orders for New World as part of a broader Russia-and-Belarus business response. Retail deliveries, new AWS sign-ups and new marketplace-seller onboarding were also restricted. The announcement was regional and product-specific: it was not a worldwide Prime Video suspension, not proof that every existing AWS service ended, and not an announcement that existing New World players immediately lost access.
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