Yandex Denies Kiev's Accusations of Illegal Collection of Personal Data

Yandex rejected the accusations by the Security Service of Ukraine of illegal transfer of personal data of Ukrainians to Russian special services.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's largest Internet company Yandex on Monday rejected the accusations by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of illegal transfer of personal data of Ukrainians to Russian special services.

"No transfer of data, which Yandex is accused of, has taken place…Neither the employees nor the management of Yandex.Ukraine had access to personal data of Yandex users," the company said in a statement.

According to the statement, the company's priority at this point is to take all necessary legal steps to defend its team in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said earlier on Monday that it suspects Yandex.Ukraine, the Ukrainian branch of Yandex, of illegal collection of personal data of Ukrainian citizens and its transfer to Russia "for further planning of actions aimed at undermining Ukrainian sovereignty."

The SBU locked down and searched offices of Yandex.Ukraine in Kiev and Odessa as part of the investigation of a case of "treason against the state."