Gaming organization Natus Vincere or NaVi is one of the most prestigious orgs in esports. Being home to legendary players in their Dota 2 and CSGO rosters as well as winning multiple trophies across different esports.
But with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, things have taken a different turn. Upon the call of Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy, regular citizens took up arms to defend their homeland alongside the Ukrainian army. Among them was NaVi’s founder and former Counter Strike Player, Oleksandr “ZeroGravity” Kokhanovskyi.
NaVi’s ZeroGravity started out his career as a Professional Player, playing CS 1.6 from 1999 till 2008. In 2009, he founded his own organization by the name of Natus Vincere or NaVi. He was the CEO until 2017, after which he decided to move to the Board of Directors.
Come February 2022, ZeroGravity decided to join the fight on the ground himself, away from Counter Strike and the world of esports. He posted pictures on his Facebook, of the terrible state the city of Kyiv was in, the rubble and debris all around, and also of himself in an army uniform with weapons behind him.
He also posted a long message, about the plight of the people in Ukraine and expressed his anger towards the meaningless war started by Russia. He called for humanitarian aid, posting pictures of areas affected, medical assistance, and also for the safe evacuation of citizens from Ukraine. ZeroGravity said in the post that he will take it upon himself to coordinate these tasks, and added links and phone numbers where people could donate for the cause.
“I will personally coordinate all these missions and tasks, as well as be directly involved in their implementation. After completing a particular task, we will report back (considering that we cannot write or cover many things in public). To fulfill these tasks, coordination centers will be created in 3 cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro).” read the post.
The full Facebook post can be found here.
“12 years ago ZeroGravity founded NAVI and now he’s defending our country,” was the tweet by NaVi originally, but it has since been deleted.
ZeroGravity posted on Instagram, coordinating supplies while clad in an army uniform, staying true to his word.
NaVi’s CSGO had already donated $33k to the Ukrainian army, as well as ESL and teams of the Louvre Agreement agreeing to donate $125k to Ukraine for humanitarian aid. EPIC Games also announced that all Fortnite proceeds from the next two weeks will be donated to Ukraine for humanitarian aid.
