Fresh from confirming its earlier announcement that it would close hundreds of its stores, H&M Group has announced that five of its brands are launching online in Russia.

Expanding its digital operations, is a key target for the Swedish fashion retail giant and it will now launch Cos, Weekday, Monki, & Other Stories and Arket into the Russian market during the autumn.

The company’s biggest brand, H&M, has been available to Russian web shoppers since 2015.

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“Russia is an interesting and important market that holds substantial potential,” Anna Attemark, Head of Portfolio Brands at H&M Group, said. She added that the five brands being launched online have already seen "great demand from devoted fans” in the region.

In May this year, the brands made their collections available online to several new markets in Europe and Switzerland is set to follow shortly after the brands’ grand opening in Russia.

The Russian debut comes as the firm plans to shut 250 stores out of its 5,000 global total and invest heavily in growing the digital business that helped it get through the lockdowns when most of its shops were shut.