Russian court tells Yandex to hide images of oil refinery after Ukrainian attacks

A Russian court has ordered internet company Yandex to hide access to maps and photos of one of Russia's largest oil refineries due to repeated attacks by Ukrainian drones, state news agency TASS reported on Friday.

Yandex, often referred to as "Russia's Google", operates the country's largest search engine and other online services like maps, translate and email, as well as ride-hailing and food delivery.

The court in Moscow ordered Yandex to exclude information about the refinery's infrastructure from its search results by removing and editing images of workshops, compressor stations and other parts of the plant from Yandex Maps, TASS reported.

It was not clear which refinery the court decision referred to, but TASS said the facility had been attacked four times by Ukrainian drones in 2024.

Ukraine has staged numerous strikes on Russian oil storage facilities and refineries, responding to Moscow's February 2022 invasion and repeated attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

The court's decision can be appealed. Yandex declined to comment.

The refinery had tried to resolve the issue directly with Yandex before taking the matter to court, TASS said. The claimant argued that the availability of information about the refinery online undermined Russia's defence capability and negatively impacted the armed forces.