HellRaisers Suspends Operations Over Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian esports organization HellRaisers has halted its operations until the Russian invasion of Ukraine is over. HellRaisers spelled out in a statement on its Twitter account that many of its employees who were currently in Ukraine were currently “under the attack of Putin’s army” which made it infeasible for the organization to work in the current environment. Despite the indefinite suspension of operations, HellRaisers said that all employees will be able to keep their jobs during the period and continue to receive salaries.
HellRaisers halts operations until Russia-Ukraine standoff ends
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th Feb 2022, HellRaisers described the current situation in Ukraine, saying that people are afraid and have fled their homes due to bombardments. As for its own staff, HellRaisers said, “our staff includes players with Russian passports, and they are still with Ukrainian colleagues in Ukraine. They are also under the attack of Putin’s Army.”
In light of everything that is going on in Ukraine, HellRaisers announced that it is ceasing operations "until the war is over." The organization stated that its employees would remain on the job, be paid, and return to work once the war is over.
The CS:GO roster, which has five Ukrainian players, has been put on hold. The Dota 2 roster, which has three Russian and two Kazakh players, will keep playing together under a different name that they can choose for themselves.
Following this, HellRaisers' sports director, Marie "Inverno" Gunina, in a Twitlonger post, said she was looking for a new "home" for the organization's Dota 2 team that recently placed third in the Eastern Europe (EEU) Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Regional Finals 2021-22.
She said that two of the three Russian players of the Dota 2 lineup are currently in Russia and they “are looking for the ways to relocate them from the bloody dictator.” At the same time, Inverno, as well as the team's coach, Aleksandr "Nofear" Churochkin, both of whom are Russian, are currently in Ukraine, “trying to survive Putin’s army attacks.” “We’d like to keep our team as it is, but you don’t have to keep the management. Just let my boys compete together, please,” Inverno added.
Inverno on HellRaisers' halting operations
The Russian invasion has led many notable esports organizations and teams to act in solidarity with Ukraine in the past week. Natus Vincere (NAVI) recently cut ties with Russian esports holding company ESforce Holding, which owns Virtus.pro, RuHub, cybersports.ru, and Epic Esports Events. Blast and Elisa Esports have prohibited Russian teams from attending their events. Other esports organizations, such as ESL, Alliance and Beyond the Summit, have also taken steps to demonstrate their support for Ukraine.
