  This paper is concerned with perturbation of evolution equation with delay
$u'(t)=Au(t)+Bu_t \ (*)$ where $A,B$ are linear operators in a Banach space
$\mathbb{X}$ and from $C([-r,0],\mathbb{X})$ to $\mathbb{X}$, respectively;
$r>0$ is a given constant. To measure the size of unbounded perturbation we
introduce the so-called \textit{Yosida distance} of linear operators $U$ and
$V$ in a Banach space $\mathbb{X}$ as $d_Y(U,V):=\limsup_{\mu\to +\infty} \|
U_\mu-V_\mu\|$, where $U_\mu$ and $V_\mu$ are the Yosida approximations of $U$
and $V$, respectively. The obtained results states that if $d_Y(A, A_1)$ and
$d_Y(B, B_1)$ are sufficiently small, then the equation $u'(t)=A_1u(t)+B_1u_t \
(**)$ also has an exponential dichotomy, if (*) has it. The proofs are based on
estimates of the Yosida distance of the generators of the solution semigroups
generated by (*) and (**) in the phase space $C([-r,0],\mathbb{X})$ whose
domains have no relations at all. The obtained results seem to be new.
