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The original was posted on /r/dota2 by /u/OfflaneGhostik on 2023-08-05 17:14:26.

Hi Reddit, I’m kinda new to making posts, so please don’t judge me too harshly. Many of you might know me as Team Empire’s former offlane player, Ghostik, the same guy who defeated EG at The International 2017. I’d like to share my story about how people in Ukraine are dealing with war and what it’s like to play Dota 2 while being in Ukraine.

I’m from Chernihiv, a city that has been affected by the war (you can find photos of bombed hotels and houses in google). It was a shock for all of us to realize that such a war could happen in the 21st century. Before the war started, I was playing for the Russian team, Team Empire, and, like Mira and Yatoro, I thought that esports were beyond politics. However, when my city got bombed and my former Russian “friends” and teammates remained silent and distant, I understood that nothing in life is beyond politics. Playing my favorite game became nearly impossible when there was a constant threat of rockets, internet shutdowns, and electricity outages due to Russian attacks (this was especially true between October 2022 and March 2023). Nevertheless, thanks to the brave soldiers and the people of Ukraine and support from other countries, we are standing strong.

For me, Dota 2 was always a dream, and I never thought about anything other than winning The International. However, after the war began, I couldn’t continue playing for a Russian team, even if they publicly claimed to be against the war. The fact remains that they live in Russia and pay taxes there, and helping them to win money in Dota 2 could indirectly fund the war through those taxes. So, I decided to fully embrace streaming and used my platform to raise awareness about the situation in Ukraine. Unfortunately, I faced a lot of hate from Russian viewers who seemed to be deeply influenced by propaganda. I lost like 70% of viewers. My online before war started was 2000 people and after droped to 400-500.

Playing Dota 2 as a Ukrainian player in public games was also difficult during the war. I encountered hurtful comments like, “Why aren’t you in a shelter?” or “We will free you, wait (free me from what btw - from life obviously)?” along with offensive language directed towards Ukrainians like *ohol

Tragically, in September 2022, my uncle lost his life while defending Ukraine in this war. Witnessing his family at the funeral was heart-wrenching, and my wife and I were lost in despair because we were close with his family and dreamt of sitting togather and celebrating after he comes back from war. Obviously, this will never happen now.

After that, I made a decision to switch to Ukrainian language on Twitch and in real life. This move received more hate from Russian viewers, who somehow kept watching me, even though I was saying all the time that I supports Ukraine. I also closed my YouTube channel with 60k subscribers and Russian language content and started a new channel entirely in Ukrainian. I felt the need to do more than just donate; I wanted to actively help my country. So, I volunteered for almost a year, doing my best to support Ukraine in any way possible. Streaming helping to raise donations a lot, cause we’re united with Ukrainians and thanks to that we raised more than 250 000 $ starting from October 2022.

Now, after sharing my story, let’s talk about the recent decision by UESF. Some may view this decision as mere PR, but there are reasons behind why they banned Mira and Yatoro, and I’d like to explain:

  1. You might think: “Oh, what a stupid decision. Mira and Yatoro supporting Ukraine”.

Yes, they did at the begining of war. They might making donations quietly still (or maybe not, I don’t know). But it’s not enough. Imagine: full-scale war is going 1.5 year already and people are voluntering, fighthing, giving all money they have to help their country. Some people are brave/skilled enough and they’re fighting at war. Some people are being mobilized to army like my uncle and being killed. Imagine, if this all happened only at the begining of war. Like all this public words from Mira and Yatoro and to be honest - other Ukrainian players like Rezolution, Yuragi, Noone etc. Like, 1 month war started you’re doing something - then you like, oh, I’m tired, I’m not gonna say anything in publicity, cause you know, my Russian team and teammates doesn’t like that. If that heppened with everyone in Ukraine - we would lost already.

  1. You might think: “They’re playing with Russians who’re pro-peace”.

Okay, how do you know that? From my story - 0 from my ex-teammates contacted me and asked something like: How’re you doing ? Not even in public. They’re not making statements, a lot of them are still living in Russia, paying taxes there like nothing happened. They have opportunity and money to relocate from this country with family, but they just don’t care.

You don’t wanna talk about that ? Okay, you have opportunity to at least change your flag on Liquipedia like some players did (like Chuvash, 9Class, Swedenstrong etc.). Did players from Team Spirit or others teams done this ? No.

  1. You might think: “Mira and Yatoro are playing in organization that immediately relocated from Russia to Serbia and publicly announced their pro-peace position too”

At the begining of war Valve announced that non Russian teams can play in their tournaments, which is why a lot of Russian teams like VP,BB, TSpirit and others changed their countrys. And of course they will be pro-peace, cause if they don’t they will be insta disqualified from everywhere. But ask yourself: did they do it cause they don’t wanna be in Russia or they were forced to do it cause of Valve ?

  1. You might think that: " Mira and Yatoro has huge fanbase in Ukraine"

You’re wrong. They have people, who’s supporing them cause they’re from Ukraine, yes. But most of Ukraine players are dissapointed in their actions. Better to say - dissapointed in luck of actions from them.

I hope this clarifies how Ukrainians feel about the situation. UESF’s decision may seem to have double standards, but the core issues remain unchanged.

Lastly, if you encounter a Ukrainian player in a Dota 2 pub, please show them some support and understanding. We all need it during these hard times. Dota 2 is an amazing game, and hopefully, one day, Valve will create a treasure in Dota where proceeds will go to support Ukraine.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.