The European Union has lifted sanctions against a Russian technology tycoon, in a rare break from a policy of punishing the country’s elites for the invasion of Ukraine. Arkady Volozh, who co-founded Russia’s largest tech company, Yandex, was taken off the list of sanctioned individuals after condemning the invasion of Ukraine and taking public steps to sever ties to Russia. Mr. Volozh is one the most prominent Russian figures to be cleared of sanctions by a major Western power since the start of the war. “There’s finally some logic in the West’s actions,” Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speechwriter turned political consultant, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “If you come out against” the war, he added, “then sanctions are lifted.”

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Persons: Arkady Volozh, Volozh, “ There’s, ” Abbas Gallyamov, “, ” Organizations: European, European Council, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia