Ukraine’s SBU security service raided the Kyiv and Odesa offices of Russian tech company Yandex on May 29, the company has reported.
“Lawyers are already on the way to our offices,” the company’s spokesperson, Asya Melkumova, told the Kyiv Post. “We’re ready to give all the requested information to law enforcement.”
Yandex said the reason for the SBU raid was still unknown, and that it would not give any other information, says Melkumova.
SBU spokesperson Olena Hytlyanska confirmed that the raids were underway to Ukrainian online publication MarketingChallenge, saying that the searches were being conducted under article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which concerns high treason. The article covers, inter alia, threats posed to information security of the country
On May 16, President Poroshenko signed a decree lengthening the list of Russian citizens and companies under Ukrainian sanctions..
The new list affects Russian IT companies and internet platforms like Yandex, VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki — all of which are hugely popular in Ukraine. It also forces Ukrainian internet providers to cut access to the website of Russian independent TV channel RBK.
A total of 1,228 Russian firms and 468 citizens of that country are now under Ukrainian sanctions..
Yandex has been operating in Ukraine since 2005.
“All this time we have been abiding by Ukrainian law, doing our best to create quality products,” Yandex’s press service said on May 16, when the latest sanctions were announced.
“These sanctions are against 11 million Ukrainian (Yandex) users… and thousands of Ukrainian organisations that use our technologies to develop their businesses.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected].
