The founder of Yandex, the main Russian Internet search engine, Arkady Volozh, today condemned the war against Ukraine, deeming it a “barbaric invasion” promoted by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.
“I am categorically against the barbaric invasion of Ukraine by Russia, where I, like many, have friends and relatives.Volozh said in a statement quoted by the independent portal Meduza.
The businessman said that while he has not lived on Russian soil since 2014, when Crimea was annexed and Russia supported and incited pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, he “feels partly responsible for the country’s actions”.
Since the outbreak of war in February last year, Volozh has focused on supporting talented Russian engineers who have decided to leave Russia and start a new life abroad.
“I had to keep silent for many reasons. The timing of this statement is debatable, but not the content. I am against war”he stressed.
The businessman retired from Yandex’s board of directors and his role as executive director of the business group in mid-2022, shortly after being placed on the Western sanctions list.
Volozh is the fourth businessman on Forbes’ list of the 200 richest Russians to speak out against the war, after Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Oleg Tinkov and Andrei Borodin.
Another 19 businessmen on the Forbes list were indifferent to the issue and 11 of them, including Alisher Usmanov, Yevgeny Kaspersky and Oleg Deripaska, even helped fund the Russian army in the Ukrainian military campaign.
However, the vast majority of wealthier Russians chose to remain silent about the war.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.7 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries -, according to the latest data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). ‘
The invasion, justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Kiev and Moscow imposing political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
