A hidden room on a CS:GO map is designed to educate Russian players about the truth in the Ukraine war.
Even years ago, free reporting became a foreign word in Russia. The state-regulated media censors everything until it fits the Russian government’s narrative and broadcasts its propaganda 24 hours a day, seven days a week on all channels to convince the population that Russia is threatened by Nazis, NATO and Ukraine.
Information in a roundabout way
How do you distribute information to a population that is almost completely shielded from non-state regulated media? At least since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it has become almost impossible to get uncensored news in Russia.
However, unlike TikTok, Facebook and Twitter, CS:GO servers in Russia have remained online even after the start of the Ukraine war. Up to four million users, mainly young men, play Counter-Strike in Russia.
The Finnish newspaper Helsingi Sanomat has therefore thought about how this could be exploited to educate at least part of the Russian population about the truth in the Ukraine war.
Secret Room
Without further ado, the journalists hired two map creators who created the CS:GO map de_voyna. In itself, nothing special would not be a hidden room on the map, which is stuffed with information about the Ukraine war.
In addition to several texts, the room also contains various images showing attacks and war crimes against Ukrainian civilians by the Russian military.
By the way, the name “voyna” means “war” in Russian, a word that can be punished with up to 15 years imprisonment in connection with the Ukraine conflict in Putin’s Russia.
The map can be downloaded via the (Steam-Workshop) . A detailed report about the creation process of the map and the used texts and images can be found (here).
