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Ukraine imposed sanctions on Yandex and several other Russian
Internet firms this month and blocked access to their websites,
saying it wanted to guard against cyber threats.
"There are representatives of Ukraine's Security Service in our
offices in Kiev and Odessa," Yandex said in a statement, saying
its lawyers were willing to help with any investigation.
SBU spokeswoman Olena Gitlyanska said on Facebook "investigative
actions" were being carried out in connection with a criminal
investigation into suspected treason but gave no further
details.
A Reuters witness at Yandex's Kiev office saw plain-clothes
investigators sticking yellow labels onto a number of computers
that appeared to have been seized.
Later, the SBU said in a statement that information had been
passed to Russia for use in reconnaissance and acts of sabotage
that undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Ukraine.
Yandex has previously said it operates fully in accordance with
Ukrainian law. It does not expect sanctions to have a materially
negative impact on its business.
More than 450 Russian firms have been blacklisted by Kiev since
Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ensuing
pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.
Before sanctions were imposed, Yandex employed 320 people in
Ukraine and had about 11 million Ukrainian users.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk in Kiev;
Anastasia Teterevleva in Moscow; Writing by Alessandra Prentice;
Editing by Louise Ireland)
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