At the IEM Katowice tournament, Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev gave an emotional speech.
According to a post on his Instagram Stories, prominent CS:GO streamer and pro esports player Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev has donated one million Ukrainian hryvnias (roughly $33,000 USD) to the Ukrainian army. This comes after s1mple made an emotional plea for unity over the weekend at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice tournament.
Last week, Russia invaded Ukraine. On President Vladimir Putin’s orders, Russian forces launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of thousands more as Russia moves in to occupy various parts of the independent country.
Ukrainian player S1mple for the popular first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the Kyiv-based esports organization Natus Vincere, has no doubt been shaken by this devastating news. S1mple has been tweeting about the Russia-Ukraine conflict since it began.
Now, the esports player is backing up his words with action.
S1mple spent much of last weekend in Katowice, Poland, at IEM Katowice, an annual tournament in which hundreds of esports teams compete for a $1 million prize pool in games like CSGO and League of Legends.
On February 25, S1mple and his Natus Vincere team were eliminated from the tournament by G2 Esports, but before leaving the stage, he gave a speech calling for “peace for Ukraine and the entire world.”
Vitalii Volochai, a Ukrainian Olympic and NBA broadcaster, reported a few days later that s1mple had donated $33,265 to the Ukrainian army, though s1mple has yet to publicly comment.
While many individuals and organizations, including CD Projekt Red, the creators of Cyberpunk 2077, donate to the Ukrainian Red Cross or other humanitarian organizations, s1mple has chosen to donate to Ukraine’s military. Being based in Kyiv, it’s possible that his primary concern is repelling the invaders in order to keep his city, country, and people as safe as possible.
While this is s1mple’s most eye-catching donation to date, it isn’t his first time willingly parting with cash. He donated all of the money he earned from the FACEIT Pro League tournament to the men’s health charity MovemberUK in November 2018. The total amount was never revealed, but the event had a $5,200 weekly prize pool.