At the end of last week, during the launch ceremony of the IEM Katowice 2022s1mple had spoken, supporting the Ukrainian people. Being Ukrainian himself, he was greatly impacted by the invasion that Russia undertook towards his country and his appeal for peace had made a great noise within the Counter-Strike community. Yesterday, it’s in the Instagram story of the player of Natus Vincere that we learn that the latter has made numerous donations to the army of his country to support them in this conflict strongly affecting global geopolitics, up to one million Ukrainian hryvnias, or approximately 30,000 euros.
s1mple, along with the rest of the members of Natus Vincere, was present this weekend at the IEM Katowice 2022where, because of the context and the impact this war had on the players of the roster, the team was obviously in no condition to perform at their highest level. In his message of peace, delivered at the opening ceremony of the competition, he said this:
We all want peace – for Ukraine and for the whole world. We are all scared and we all have to lead by example in this tournament. We need to stick together as a unit, with our fans, with our friends and with everyone watching. And we must all remain human above all else.
However, it is obvious that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop his offensive, despite the many messages of peace that have surfaced in recent days. s1mple therefore decided to support his country as best he could, by making donations to the Ukrainian army. His family and friends are still stuck in Ukraine at the momentso he could not remain unmoved in the face of this conflict which impacts him and his compatriots.
Moreover, it can also be noted that given the context, NAVI’s presence at IEM Katowicedespite results obviously below expectations, having lost in their first match against G2, was a great token of bravery. It will have enabled many Ukrainians to keep hopesome of them even watching the game in bomb shelters in Kyiv to keep morale high.
A few boys from my shelter were watching the match and seems like it helped a bit. It already means that it was totally worth it.
Proud of our team.— NAVI (@natusvincere) February 26, 2022
Even though s1mple wishes for peace, he wishes above all the well-being of his compatriots. He had also announced that even if esports was not political, he counted on being. These donations are therefore a sign that he invests himself in order to support his fatherlandwho currently lives a most nightmarish situation. This conflict that lies at the heart of the newswill continue to evolve, and many members of the esports community, in addition to s1mple, continue to support the Ukrainian people. As a reminder, the player is one of the biggest stars of CS:GO. He made over $830,000 last year.