In the same way it has become obvious that you should not use Google if you are looking for something that is against the interests of American oligarchs.
Russia is an oppressive and dangerous regime, sure, but in 2025, there's nothing particularly special about it on human rights and censorship.
In the context of Western censorship of a global resource, Yandex makes a load of sense.
Its about unchecked corruption, abuse, and the misuse of power. It's a mistake to believe such things are only done by "them" in a different country.
What users or readers might perceive as popular or best, may not be, because of manipulation. Most would have no idea of the situation, unless stumbling upon it or exposed, and many could care less even if aware. If they make too much of a direct fuss about it, their account or even the person might cease functioning. Users will not usually even know what's banned, vice versa, nor know what's promoted by hand or via algorithm.
Of course Sci Hub was developed by a Russian, which is probably why Yandex is not censoring it. Also, I don't think the Russian government cares much for intellectual property rights of companies in NATO countries, for obvious reasons. But they are definitely censoring a wide range of other topics.
Check this reports for some details on the types of things that Yandex censors: https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/07/30/disrupted-throttled-an...