Yandex founder condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine

Arkady Volozh, the founder of Yandex, has for the first time, publicly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it “barbaric” and claimed he also “shared responsibilities” for the aggression. 

Volozh, 59, has been on the EU sanctions list since June 2022. The official EU list described him as a businessman who materially and financially supported the Russian government and was responsible for actions or policies that undermined the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The bloc also added Yandex was responsible for the promotion of state media and the disappearance of criticism of the Kremlin in the search engine.

In a letter to the Meduza media about the war in Ukraine, Volozh said the creators of Yandex believed they were building a new Russia “an open, progressive, integrated global economy.”

“Over time, it became clear that Russia is not in a hurry to become part of the global world, while the pressure on the company was growing,” the businessman said. According to him, he now understood that “something could have been done differently” under these conditions.

“In February 2022, the world changed and I realized that my story with Yandex was over,” said Volozh. 

The billionaire currently lives in Israel and is reportedly planning to start a business with international services separate and independent from Yandex.

Volozh is the fourth among the richest Russian businessmen to publicly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before that, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Oleg Tinkov and Andrei Borodin living in Great Britain did the same.