CS:GO legend Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev took to Twitter on Thursday to call for peace in his home country of Ukraine, following a reported Russian invasion and bombing in the country. S1mple later tweeted that his home city in Ukraine is being shelled by Russian forces.
S1mple stated on Wednesday in response to growing Russian aggression: "Please, please, stop, I can't do this anymore, we all need peace" followed later with "my city is shelled r fck n."
On Thursday evening, S1mple took to Twitter once again, calling out people who are comparing the war to video games like Warzone and generally not taking the situation seriously. "This is not Verdansk, this is real life," he stated, linking to a map of the ongoing bombings in Ukraine. "Don't let others fool you."
Natus Vincere, S1mple's CS:GO organization, is based out of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. They also spoke out against the Russian invasion on Thursday, calling on all people to support Ukraine during the ongoing situation, especially Russian people who are willing to protest their own government's actions.
NaVi stated: "You can’t imagine how important your support is. Especially all the Russian people on the street protesting again this devastating war."
The Russian invasion of Ukraine comes after weeks of Russia building up its military forces on the border. According to reports from CNN and others, the Russian army has crossed the border in multiple locations and engaged in missile attacks and bombings on various targets in the country, including military bases and airports. According to Putin, his goal is to "demilitarize" Ukraine, forcing them to lay down their arms.
Due to the invasion effort, the Ukrainian president Zelensky introduced martial law on Thursday, while the ambassador to the UN from Ukraine has called for Russia to remove their troops, telling the Russian ambassador to the Ukraine "war criminals do not go to purgatory, they go straight to hell."
