Is Kaspersky AV Safe?

With the recent invasion by Russia into Ukraine, and the resulting tensions with the west, the safety of the Russian based anti-virus from Kaspersky has been questioned.

Eugene Kaspersky (the founder and current CEO) is an oligarch in Russia, and lives in Moscow with his family. He was educated in The Technical Faculty of the KGB Higher School (prior to the fall of the USSR).

That said, Kaspersky AV (KAV) has a long history of excellent results at independent testing sites (including AV-Comparatives and AV-Test, based in Austria and Germany respectively). The latest tests at both sites in 2022 confirm these results for the paid version of KAV. I am aware of no reports of KAV compromising any computers.

My interest in this topic stems from a review I reported on the Free KAV version some 5 years ago, a version still available today:
https://www.dell.com/community/Virus-Spyware/Review-Kaspersky-Free-AV/m-p/5174116#M200828

My review was generally favorable to KAV, but I must confess I opted for other free AVs for various reasons at that time, and subsequently.

At this time I have no reason to believe KAV is unsafe. At the same time, I have no reason to recommend it, in either free or paid version.