Earlier in the day, the SBU locked down and searched the offices of Yandex.Ukraine in Kiev and Odessa as part of the investigation of a case of treason against the state.
"The repressive machine of [Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko is ready to override the rights and freedoms of its citizens up and down in the heat of rabid Russophobia. Yandex has stood in the way of Kiev ideologists’ misinformation, and an emergency incident and precedent for Europe and the United States has appeared there. And where is [the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media] Dunja Mijatovic? And where is the freedom of speech?" Yarovaya said as quoted by the press service of the United Russia party.
Yarovaya stressed that there was an urgent need for the adoption of international agreements on information security.
"The world is increasingly wallowing in a swamp of double standards and provocations," Yarovaya added.
On May 16, Poroshenko approved the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to expand the list of sanctioned Russian individuals and legal entities. In particular, Ukraine has imposed sanctions on a number of Russian media and popular social networks such as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, as well as Yandex and Mail.Ru IT company.
