The CEO of Russia's equivalent of Google has stepped down in protest of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Yandex CEO Yelena Bunina spoke out against Russia's war in Ukraine in a memo to colleagues published on the company's internal portal, TASS reported.
Bunina was out of the country when the invasion began Feb. 24, vacationing in Cyprus, according to the report. She flew to Israel March 1 and was working from the company's Tel Aviv office.
"I will not return: I cannot live in a country that is at war with its neighbors," the internal memo read, according to the report.
Bunina's resigning will become effective April 15, she wrote.
"I will transfer the rest of my roles gradually," the memo added. "Until I completely transfer them, I will not drop it."
Bunina has been with Russia's Google equivalent since January 2011, when she began as director of human resources. She was elevated to CEO in December 2017, according to the report.
The move comes as Russia has cracked down on getting all internet and social media entities under Putin's Kremlin influence amid the war in Ukraine.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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