Yandex Russian assets sold and separated from Nebius
Yandex's Russian businesses, including its search engine, were sold to Russian investors and split from the Dutch parent company.
What changed
In July 2024 the Dutch-listed parent, renamed Nebius Group, completed the sale of Yandex's Russian assets to a consortium of Russian investors for a heavily discounted USD 5.3 billion, under pressure from sanctions and Russian ownership rules. Yandex Search continued to operate in Russia under the new ownership, while the international entity pivoted away from search. For international SEO the practical effect was that Yandex became a purely domestic Russian search platform. Only the month is documented here.
Timing
Rollout began 1 July 2024. No completion date was announced. Rankings typically remain unstable for the whole rollout window, so measurements taken inside it are not a reliable read on the outcome.