According to Brussels, Mr. Volozh, who had personal meetings with Putin in 2017 and 2020, has provided significant support, either materially or financially, for the war against Ukraine. In 2017, he even invited Putin to Yandex’s headquarters in Moscow to showcase their self-driving car and AI-based products. However, in his recent statement, Mr. Volozh downplays his 25-year tenure as CEO of the Russian company, referring to himself as a “Kazakhstan-born” Israeli and Yandex as one of Europe’s largest internet companies.
Yandex, the tech giant in Russia, has faced allegations of assisting the government in suppressing freedom of speech and facilitating mass surveillance. The company offers various products, including a Russian-language search engine, music streaming service, and gaming platform.
Nasdaq suspended the trading of Yandex shares on the US index in February 2022, immediately after the invasion of Ukraine, when the company’s market capitalization was $6.6 billion. Both Mr. Volozh and Yandex declined to provide further comments on the matter.
It is worth noting that Russia has a track record of targeting individuals, whether they are political or business figures, who speak out against Putin’s government or the war in Ukraine. Just recently, Ilya Sachkov, the founder of cyber security company Group-IB, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on accusations of passing state secrets to the USA. This led to Group-IB, once considered a cutting-edge Russian tech company, leaving the country.
Furthermore, political opponents of Putin face imprisonment for peacefully opposing his regime. Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition politician and journalist, was sent to a penal colony for 25 years in April. Kara-Murza, who grew up in northwest London, has been a vocal critic of Putin’s government.
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