After 1.5 years, he woke up: Yandex founder Volozh expressed his position on Russia’s war in Ukraine
For the first time since February 2022, Yandex founder Arkady Volozh expressed his position on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“I am categorically opposed to Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, where I, like many others, have friends and relatives. I am horrified by the fact that bombs fly into Ukrainian homes every day. Despite the fact that I have not lived in Russia since 2014, I realize that I also bear some responsibility for the country’s actions,” Volozh said.
According to him, he moved to Israel in 2014 and since then has been developing Yandex’s international projects.
“But in February 2022, the world changed, and I realized that my story with Yandex was over,” he added.
According to Volozh, he had previously not made any statements about the Russian invasion because of his fellow developers who remained in the country and whom he allegedly helped to leave. However, now they seem to be safe, and the co-founder of Yandex immediately felt his conscience wake up.
But the fact is that Arkady Volozh, like other Russian oligarchs, is looking for ways to get out from under US and European sanctions. That is why he is now trying to distance himself from Russia, even though Yandex continues to support the Russian government..
Recently, the media reported that as of September 1, the FSB will have access to the data of Yandex taxi service, including information about passengers’ trips outside Russia. After all, the service operates in more than 20 countries.
This did not go unnoticed by Western countries. For example, Finland has temporarily banned Yandex and Ridetech International B.V. from processing and transferring to Russia personal data of customers collected by the Yango taxi service. However, on August 9, Kazakhstan suspended Yandex because of possible links to the FSB.