The manifestation of athletes, especially those who compete in CS:GO, is no wonder, because the competitive eSports scene has several clubs, teams and players that are from Russia and Ukraine.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes Russia and Ukraine, is one of the top competitive regions in eSports. S1mple's own team, NAVI, has Russian and Ukrainian athletes in the same squad.
Poland, which borders Ukraine, is hosting IEM Katowice, one of the top CS:GO competitions in the world. MIBR and Imperial are currently in Poland.
"Very sad. My prayers to all involved,” commented Gabriel “FalleN” from Imperial, in response to a s1mple post on Twitter asking for peace.
At 23:57 (GMT) on Wednesday (23), Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a special operation in eastern Ukraine. In an official statement, he said that "conflicts between Russia and Ukrainian forces are inevitable, it is only a matter of time."
Putin said his country could not tolerate what he called "threats from Ukraine" and warned against foreign interference. According to international agencies, explosions are being heard in the capital Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.
Source: GE
