(Reuters) – A Russian court ordered an internet company Yandex (NASDAQ:) to block access to maps and photos of Russia's largest oil refinery because of ongoing Ukrainian drone attacks, state news agency TASS reported on Friday.
Yandex, often called “Google's Google (NASDAQ:)”, operates the country's largest search engine and other online services such as maps, translation and email, as well as ride-hailing and food delivery.
The Moscow court ordered Yandex to exclude information about the cleaning infrastructure in the search results by removing and editing images of workshops, compressor stations and other plant locations on Yandex Maps, TASS reported.
It is unclear which decision the court is referring to, but TASS said the facility was attacked four times by Ukrainian drones in 2024.
Ukraine has held several protests against Russian oil depots and refineries, responding to the February 2022 attack on Moscow and repeated attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
The court's decision can be appealed. Yandex did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The refinery tried to resolve the issue directly with Yandex before taking the matter to court, TASS said. The plaintiff argued that the availability of information about the purge on the Internet undermines Russia's defense capabilities and has a negative impact on the armed forces.