Moscow.- The founder of Yandex, Russia’s leading internet search engine, Arkady Volozh, today condemned the war against Ukraine.
«I am categorically against the barbaric invasion of Russia in the Ukraine, where I have, like many, friends and relatives. I am horrified that every day bombs fall on the houses of Ukrainians,” he said in a statement quoted by the independent portal Meduza.
The businessman pointed out that despite the fact that he has not lived in Russia since 2014, when the annexation of Crimea took place and Russia supported and instigated the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, and feels “partly responsible for the country’s actions.”
Volozh noted that since the beginning of the war in February last year, he has focused on supporting talented Russian engineers who have decided to leave Russia and can now start a new life abroad.
«I had to shut up for many reasons. It is possible to argue to what extent this statement is timely, but not about its essence. I am against the war », he stressed.
The businessman withdrew from Yandex’s board of directors and from his position as CEO 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 be outspoken against the war, after Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Oleg Tinkov and Andrei Borodin.
Another 19 businessmen on the Forbes list expressed themselves in very lukewarm terms and even eleven of them, including Alisher Usmanov, Yevgeny Kaspersky and Oleg Deripaska, helped finance the Russian Army in the framework of the Ukrainian military campaign.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of the wealthiest Russians have preferred to remain silent on the war.
