A Finnish Newspaper is Using Counter-Strike to Deliver Ukraine War News to Russia

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's largest daily newspaper, has decided to use Counter-Strike to bypass Russia’s media censorship. The organization has created a map for Counter-Strike with a hidden room that can be accessed only if you use the spectator camera. There are news stories written by Helsinging Sanomat that players can access and learn more about Russia’s actions amidst its invasion of Ukraine.

The news outlet is leveraging CS:GO to bypass media restrictions. 

Helsingin Sanomat editor-in-chief Antero Mukka told GamesRadar+ "Russians have very little chance to receive independent information about Putin's invasion of Ukraine. However, the gaming world and gamers themselves are still left unchecked. That's why we decided to hide a newspaper inside the world's most popular war game.” 

The publication revealed that it built a map of a Slavic city devastated by war, inside the game, with a secret room that offers Russian gamers uncensored access to news of the ongoing war. The map is called “de_voyna” which translates to ‘war’, a term that has been outlawed in Russia as part of its censorship attempts.

Players have uncensored access to photos and videos of the war by accessing the kill cam. The publication has claimed that ordinary Russians know nothing about the war crimes and atrocities taking place in Ukraine. 

One of the stories in the de_voyna map talk about a Russian man who went to a store only to find his family dead upon returning due to a Russian missile strike.

The map can be downloaded as a Steam Community mod and added to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Currently there are no reports of Russia being aware of the mod and the country is likely to take action against the mod or the game itself to censor the news about the war.