At a Dota 2 tournament, a professional draws the pro-Russian “Z” symbol and causes a scandal. Now his entire team has been disqualified and the player has been fired.
Russian Dota 2 eSports player Ivan ‘Pure’ Moskalenko and his team Virtus.Pro have been disqualified from a qualifying tournament. Moskalenko drew the “Z” symbol on the mini-map during a game against the Mind Games organisation.
This is considered a sign of support for the invasion of Ukraine. Since this letter does not exist in the Cyrillic alphabet, its meaning was unclear for a long time. In the meantime, the Russian Ministry of Defence clarified the situation via Instagram. It stands for “Za Pobedu” – which translates as “to victory”.
Moskalenko described that there was no intention behind his drawing: “There was a long pause in the game, the boys and I were talking and drawing on the minimap. When we realised what exactly my drawing represented, we tried to cover it up. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, it all happened by accident. “
“Every action has consequences “
Virtus.Pro competed under the name Outsiders in a tournament to qualify for the ESL One Stockholm Major. After the incident, the team was disqualified by the organisers “Beyond The Summit”.
Virtus.Pro then reacted to the incident itself and terminated the contract with Moskalenko. “Every action has consequences,” reads the official statement on Twitter, “whether intentional or not. “
