Russian tech billionaire breaks silence, says he's horrified by Putin's 'barbaric' war in Ukraine

• A cofounder of Russian internet company Yandex has come out against his country's war in Ukraine.
• Arkady Volozh, a billionaire who now resides in Israel, had refrained from public criticism.
• Few Russians of such elite economic status have openly come out against the Ukraine War.

The billionaire cofounder of Russia's largest internet company, now living in exile, has broken a monthslong silence on the war in Ukraine and issued a statement forcefully condemning his home country's 2022 full-scale invasion.

Arkady Volozh helped launch Yandex in 1997, serving as the firm's executive director up until June 2022, when he resigned after being sanctioned by the European Union for "materially or financially" supporting the Russian government. In particular, the EU accused Volozh's company of promoting Russian state narratives in its search results, according to the BBC.

In a statement on Thursday, Volozh said he is personally "horrified" by Russia's war in Ukraine and the plight of Ukrainians "whose houses are being bombed every day," the Financial Times reported. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is barbaric, and I am categorically against it," he said.

Few Russians of such elite economic status have openly and unequivocally come out against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his decision to invade and occupy Ukraine. Pavel Durov, for example, another Russian tech billionaire who now lives in Dubai — and now serves as the CEO of Telegram — has publicly committed to protecting Ukrainian users' privacy but has held back from explicitly condemning the war effort (in a March 2022 statement, Telegram said it hopes for "an immediate end to the conflict").

Volozh, who now resides in Israel, said he had "reasons" for keeping quiet until now. But, he added, he had to "take my share of responsibility" for Russia's actions.

"While there will anyway be questions about the timing of my statement today, there should be no questions about its essence," he said. "I am against the war."

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