[NelsonMinar]

Folks are focussing on the Russian part of this. But Yandex just happens to be the one whose source code got analyzed; you can safely substitute "Google" or "Facebook" or any of the other various behavior advertising companies here. They're all doing similar things and it's terrific to have such a detailed analysis of how it works.

Wired has a good summary if you want something more like a mainstream press article: https://www.wired.com/story/yandex-leaks-crypta-ads/

[darthrupert]

Of course we are focusing on the Russian part. Russia has made themselves the enemy of the west, so their spying is several factors more serious case than just a simple violation of privacy.

[VK538FY]

What is an enemy of the west and what is a friend of the west? Take a random western country like France. Do you know how many Franco-Russian 'cercles d'amitié' there are? Go search in Yandex... or Google. Many quite old with a noteworthy history of cultural exchange. No idea if that exists in the anglosphere (not my speciality). Washington, Brussels or the guy in the Élysée palace can't really transcend that.

[darthrupert]

Being a friend of Russia as a country of russians is one thing, and being a friend of the Putin regime is another.

I have nothing against the former, and everything against the latter.

[andreygrehov]

> Russia has made themselves the enemy of the west

Well, either that or the west has decided that Russia is the enemy. I honestly don't buy the saying "Russia has made themselves the enemy of the west". Why would anybody want to be the enemy of the global superpower?

[consumer451]

> Why would anybody want to be the enemy of the global superpower?

For the same reason that despots around the world "hate the west." [0] Because it takes the domestic population's eyes off of all the domestic issues such as rampant corruption and curtailment of basic freedoms.

[0] See: Iran & North Korea who non-coincidentally are both supplying Russia with arms which are used to kill Ukrainian grandparents and children living peacefully in their villages and cities.

[smolder]

They don't just "hate the west" because it distracts their citizens from domestic issues. That's ridiculous. They are resisting the global hegemony in defense of their autonomy. Just like we don't sign up to be slaves, as individuals.

[consumer451]

What does "resisting the global hegemony" have to do with annexing neighboring countries, slaughtering civilians in their homes, and then kidnapping their children?

[smolder]

I'm not in support of war. Don't try to straw man me as a Putin supporter. This is just baiting me into an argument about "who is worse" when that's irrelevant to what I said.

To be clear, I'd much rather live here than in Russia, and I also would prefer that Russia wasn't slaughtering people in Ukraine, including their own.

[OfSanguineFire]

"Why would anybody want to be the enemy of the global superpower?"

In the case of both the Balkan wars and the invasion of Ukraine, it was because staying friends with the global superpower meant that one wouldn’t get control of the lands one claimed.

[stjohnswarts]

They have though. They showed they don't care about borders and that if they're successful in Ukraine then they will just keep trying in the next nation over. Tyrants are never happy and always need more to conquer and to control. You can't just let them roll over other countries because they're a "super power" because evidently they aren't since Ukraine with help from the west is at least keeping them at bay.

[joelfried]

Lithium mines in the Donbas region, perhaps?

[0xDEF]

Because Russian boomers and nationalists are hellbent on territorial irredentism to the detriment of Ukraine, the Baltic countries, and according to some of their "Greater Russia" maps even Finland.

[NicoJuicy]

Dictators like Putin don't rule by normal logic.

In this case it's imperialism:

- Donbas: rich on natural resources

- Crimea: large amount of gas was found in 2008. Project by shell was ready in late 2013.

They invaded in 2014.

[mrguyorama]

You're forgetting literally the most important parts: Putin wants to be remembered as a unifier of Russia.

[NicoJuicy]

I don't think he really cares. Sure, he would like that.

But if he needs to choose between his "moral code" and his big fat palace.

The palace wins

[WeylandYutani]

The Russian elite doesn't give a shit about their country. They just want to milk it dry and enjoy Western lifestyle.

[qingcharles]

Why would any sane person want to be an enemy of the West?

[LargeTomato]

You are thinking about it in too simplistic of terms. Countries don't "want" to be "enemies". Countries act in their own best interest to maximize resources, security, etc.

[pphysch]

IMHO it is only appropriate to call someone "insane" after genuinely trying to understand their actions and motivations.

[cynicalsecurity]

Go try to genuinely understand the actions and motivations of Nazi Germans. Good luck, mate.

[pphysch]

Hitler literally wrote a book on his motivations. He was an insane ideologue and demagogue, based on his writings, actions, and speech.

You don't need Anne Applebaum screeds, boosted Reddit comments and a expertly-curated media bubble to determine that Hitler was insane.

[TiredOfLife]

West decided to start genocide against Ukranians? Or was it Russia?

[stjohnswarts]

however for hackers it's pretty interesting to see the code as an example of what apple/google/amazon/facebook are up to when it comes to tracking/sending ads/privacy invasion techniques. We are all quite aware of Russia's attempted genocide of Ukraine.