Airbnb to offer free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees

Airbnb has said it will offer free, temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, joining a swathe of companies offering support and donations following the Russian invasion.

The cost of the stays will be covered by Airbnb, donors to its refugee fund and hosts offering discounted or free accommodation.

Ukraine has received a surge in donations from companies and huge sums have flowed into the country in the last 24 hours.

Elliptic, a blockchain analysis company, says the Ukrainian government, NGOs and volunteers have gathered the funds by advertising their bitcoin wallet addresses online.

Gaming companies have joined the crowdfunding surge and the Polish developer 11 Bit Studios announced it would donate the profits made from its anti-war PC game, This War of Mine, in the next week to the Ukrainian Red Cross.