The esports community came together in support of Ukraine after the country was invaded by the Russian army earlier today. Organizations and players alike took to their social media handles, Twitter and Instagram in particular to show that they stand in solidarity with Ukraine in these troubled times.
Earlier today, reports of a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine by Russia surfaced after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian Army will carry out a ‘military operation’ in Ukraine. Videos and pictures of bombings, missiles, troops moving in and more have been circulating on the internet since morning, and ground reports attest to the same.
Ukrainian CSGO player Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev too tweeted about his city (Kyiv) being shelled.
Natus Vincere, an org from the country of Ukraine itself changed their profile picture to that of the Ukrainian flag to show their support for Ukraine just after reports of the invasion surfaced.
NaVi also released a statement regarding the situation wherein they said “Russia attacked Ukraine. And now there are hostilities that take human lives and destroy actual destinies on the territories of our country.
It is impossible that during this war we pretend that everything is okay. It is not. We are devastated. Our main goal right now is to try to stay calm and take care of ourselves, our loved pens and those who need help. We are all together in this. And together we’ll get through it.”
Natus Vincere is perhaps an org that will be one of the most affected ones as they have their headquarters in Ukraine, and majority of their staff and players are from Ukraine. The esports world replied with words of kindness to their situation.
Astralis extended their support for Ukraine on Twitter as their social media handles changed their display pictures, in the colors of Ukraine’s flag captioned “We stand with our friends in Ukraine, peace, and free people across the world.”
Ninjas in Pyjamas soon followed suit and came out in support of Ukraine. The profile picture of NiP on Twitter and Instagram has been edited to match the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The picture was uploaded with the caption
“We stand with the people of Ukraine and for peace in Europe.” and the hashtag #StandWithUkraine
Apart from the organizations, Pro CSGO players, k0nfig, Stewie2k, gla1ve, and others too tweeted out supporting Ukraine.
Long-time CSGO caster, Anders Blume and host Tres ‘Stunna’ Saranthus, among others stood in solidarity with Ukraine and extended their thoughts and prayers.
