Whereas tensions rose a notch this Thursday morning with the attack on Ukraine by the Russian army, the sports community has shown its support for the Ukrainian people in numerous tweets in recent hours. Particularly, of course, on the side of the teams present in this region of the world, such as Natus Vincere who says she is “devastated” by the situation. “Our main focus at the moment is to stay calm and take care of ourselves, our pockets and those who need help. We are all together in this situation, and together we will get out of it.”
The European teams have also shown support for the Ukrainian people in the face of this militarized attack on the country’s borders. This is particularly the case of fnatic which changed its logo to reveal one with the colors of the Ukrainian flag, blue and yellow. G2, NiP or Astralis did the same on their social networks.
The question of the Ukrainian crisis is likely to upset the events as well as the teams present on site or in the surrounding area. CS:GO star Sasha “s1mple” Kostyliev is himself deeply affected by this war. Originally from Ukraine, he saw his city ravaged by the missiles sent during the attack on Vladimir Putin’s troops, asking the world to stop the escalation of violence.
Пожалуйста, прошу вас, хватит, я так уже не могу, нам всем нужен мир
— Sasha (@s1mpleO) February 23, 2022
If everyone calls for peace, some teams have even taken steps to protect the Ukrainian people and nationals who need help. The co-CEO of Team Liquid has announced that it is opening the doors of its organization to players stranded in the Netherlands and who cannot return home, and invites all competitors, TL or not, to accept its help.
We are heartbroken by what’s happening in Ukraine.
This morning, we received a request from a non-Liquid player stuck in another country who could not travel home. We will open our Netherlands apartments for him and any of our friends or colleagues in a similar situation.
— Victor Goossens (@LiquidNazgul) February 24, 2022
In competition with IEM Katowice 2022, the organization is evaluating the situation with its Ukrainian players in this period. The event, although disturbed, is not in question for the moment.
We are closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine. Our current priority is to support the players, the talent and the staff who may be affected by it.
The SC2 & CSGO tournaments will continue as planned.— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 24, 2022