Founder fights in the army – NAVI and the war in Ukraine

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Michael
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NAVI, as a Ukrainian esport organisation, is directly affected by the war in its home country. How do players and officials deal with it?

The war in Ukraine has been raging for over two weeks. The esports organisation NAVI (Natus Vincere), whose actual headquarters are in Kiev, is directly affected. Since the Russian attack on Ukraine on 24 February, nothing at NAVI has been the same.

Aleksey “xaoc” Kucherov, NAVI’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), spoke to Dexerto late last week about the challenges posed by the current situation. Currently, teams from the organisation compete in titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Hearthstone: World of Warcraft and Dota 2.

According to NAVI, 90 per cent of its staff are still on the ground in Ukraine. Some continue to work in esports, others like NAVI co-founder Oleksandr “ZeroGravity” Kokhanovskyi are fighting in the Ukrainian army against Russia’s invasion. Aleksey “xaoc” Kucherov himself is abroad with some of the organisation’s leaders. A few days before Russia’s attack, he had left the country with his family.

According to the former Counter-Strike professional xaoc, it would otherwise have been much more difficult for all NAVI employees. Which means that this is the only way the organisation can ensure its continuation. But normality no longer exists in the face of war: “A lot has changed, everyone who can work is partly taking on different tasks than before,” said the NAVI officer.

Firmly rooted in Eastern Europe

NAVI, as an esport organisation, is firmly rooted in Eastern Europe and has many connections to Russia. After the war began, the Ukrainian organisation issued a statement announcing the end of its cooperation with Esforce Holding, which is active in many esports and is based in Moscow.

What complicates the situation is the employment of numerous Russian players in the NAVI teams. Organisers such as BLAST and the ESL have already imposed starting bans on Russian organisations linked to the Russian government, but allow Russian players to compete under neutral names. Of course, this does not affect NAVI.

But the imposed EU sanctions could make it more difficult for Russians to travel and obtain visas in the future, according to NAVI CEO Kucherov. This affects several NAVI teams, including Counter-Strike pros Denis “electroNic Sharipov, Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy.

The Russians play side by side with the Ukrainians s1mple and Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi in the CS:GO team. But s1mple let it be known in an emotional statement in Katowice one day after the war began that his Russian teammates were his friends despite the war.

According to xaoc, electroNic, Boombl4 and Perfecto are currently in Russia. NAVI’s next tournament is the ESL Pro League in Germany, where the quintet is scheduled to compete in Group D on 30 March.

NAVI is facing many logistical problems due to current events. Will all players be able to travel to LAN tournaments on schedule? What about the safety of the staff in Ukraine? Where can the organisation operate safely from a central location in the future?

The war is turning the lives of xaoc, s1mple and all other NAVI players and officials upside down. Ukrainians worry about the welfare of their families and friends first, which is clear from statements made to media and on social media channels. Concentrating on esports is difficult under the impressions of the Russian invasion – not only for the NAVI family.