As the list of multinationals stepping back from Russia grows, Rio Tinto became the first major mining company to cut ties with Russian businesses and Japan's Sony and Nintendo suspended deliveries of their gaming consoles.

Nestle, the world's biggest packaged foods group, and Mondeleze International followed actions by rivals Procter & Gamble and Unilever in halting investment in Russia, joining the global corporate exodus over Moscow’s aggression on Ukraine.

Similarly, while cigarette maker Imperial Brands suspended operations in Russia, rival Philip Morris only said it would scale down manufacturing, and Camel maker British American Tobacco said its business in Russia continued to operate, even though it had suspended capital investment.

Credit Suisse flagged a roughly $900 million Russian credit exposure, including lending to wealthy clients, following disclosures from Italy's UniCredit and France's BNP Paribas.

Japanese construction machinery supplier Hitachi said it would stop exports and cease most operations in Russia except for vital electrical power facilities, following similar exits by American industrial companies Caterpillar, 3M Co., Deere and Honeywell.

"We took multiple factors including the supply chain situation into account," a spokesperson for Hitachi said, echoing a statement from Caterpillar.

The Nikkei newspaper reported Hitachi had suspended operations in Russia following a request from the Ukrainian government to do so.

Sony, whose movie studio had already stopped releases in Russia, suspended the launch of the racing game "Gran Turismo 7."

Sony said its PlayStation gaming unit would stop shipments and operations in Russia. "Sony Interactive Entertainment joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine," it said.

Rival Nintendo said it delayed the global release of "Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp," a turn-based strategy game with a military theme.

Nestle, Mondelez, Procter & Gamble and Unilever said they would continue providing essentials, with Mondelez aiming to help to maintain "continuity" of the Russian food supply.

Coke and McDonald's have halted sales in Russia, KFC owner Yum Brands has paused investments and hoteliers Hilton and Hyatt said they would suspend development.

McDonald's said the temporary closure of its 847 stores in the country would cost it $50 million a month.

Sportswear firm Adidas also quantified the cost of scaling back its operations, saying it would take a hit to sales of up to 250 million euros ($277 million).

Dutch brewer Heineken, Danish beer-maker Carlsberg and Universal Music Group were also among the latest Western firms to halt operations in Russia.

Japan's Shiseido suspended exports of its cosmetics to Russia from Europe as well as advertising and promotions.

German fashion house Hugo Boss, which generated 3% of its group sales in Russia and Ukraine last year, said it had temporarily halted its businesses in Russia.

E-commerce company Shopify joined the crowd, saying it would suspend Russian operations and collect no fees from Ukrainian merchants, citing millions of Ukrainian refugees needing support.

While some companies such as Ford and Apple have condemned Russia's invasion of its southern neighbor, others including Japanese automaker Toyota have taken a more neutral stance, blaming a halt in production in Russia on logistical hurdles.

Sweeping Western sanctions have isolated Russia even as shippers have suspended routes, and European Union leaders plan to phase out buying Russian energy in a bid to be less dependent on Russia after it invaded Ukraine.

'Laws of war'

In response to the exodus, Andrei Turchak, secretary of the ruling United Russia party's general council, warned Moscow might nationalize idled foreign assets.

"United Russia proposes nationalizing production plants of the companies that announce their exit and the closure of production in Russia during the special operation in Ukraine," Turchak wrote in a statement published on the party's website on Monday.

The statement named Finnish privately owned food companies Fazer, Valio and Paulig as the latest to announce closures.

"We will take tough retaliatory measures, acting in accordance with the laws of war," Turchak said.

The war, which entered its third week on Thursday, has killed thousands of people and rendered more than 2 million refugees.

It has decimated the ruble, roiled stock markets and prices of oil and other commodities have skyrocketed, adding to global inflation that was surging even before the conflict began.

Alphabet's YouTube and Google Play store are suspending all payment-based services in Russia, including subscriptions, as sanctions start to pose banking challenges.

They had earlier stopped selling online ads in Russia.

Pay in rubles

Russia plans to order local airlines to pay for leased aircraft in rubles and bar them from returning planes to foreign companies if the latter cancel the lease, according to a draft law published on Thursday.

Moscow, which calls the war a "special military operation," has warned it might nationalize idled foreign assets in retaliation against Western sanctions.

Rio Tinto, which owns an 80% stake in a joint venture with Russian aluminum producer Rusal, said it was "in the process of terminating all commercial relationships it has with any Russian business."

Earlier, a top executive from the Anglo-Australian firm said the company was looking for alternative fuel sources for its Mongolian copper operations at Oyu Tolgoi, but did not believe it could stop buying from Russia altogether.

It was not immediately clear if Rio would continue to buy Russian fuel through non-Russian third parties.

Rio rival BHP, which had said earlier this week that the war was having a "dramatic impact" on its business in terms of commodity prices, did not immediately comment on Thursday on whether it had any business links with Russian firms and would consider terminating them.

Italian energy group Eni suspended the purchase of oil from Russia and said it was watching developments closely with regards to gas procurement.

Eni, which had already frozen joint ventures with Russian oil group Rosneft following sanctions imposed in 2014, also has long-term take-or-pay gas contracts with Gazprom.

On Tuesday, the United States banned Russian oil imports.

Western sanctions have also targeted banks and billionaires, with the European Commission preparing new sanctions against additional Russian oligarchs and politicians, and three Belarusian banks, Reuters reported.

Citigroup said it is operating its Russian consumer business on a more limited basis while sticking with its plans to divest the franchise.

Banks are likely to find it harder than many other companies to extricate themselves from Russia, experts predict, because it is hard to walk away from lending commitments and other types of financial claims.