Reporters Are Using Counter-Strike To Deliver Ukraine War News to Russians

A Finnish newspaper is using a secret room in a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map to provide uncensored news reports about the Ukraine war to people in Russia.

In a tactic designed to highlight World Press Freedom Day, Helsingin Sanomat – Finland’s largest daily newspaper – has opted to use Counter-Strike as a way to bypass Russian media restrictions. The organization has created a new map for the FPS that contains a hidden room which can only be found using the spectator cam. Inside is a collection of Russian-language stories from Helsingin Sanomat that detail the actions of Russia’s military during their invasion of Ukraine.

Talking to GamesRadar+, Helsingin Sanomat editor-in-chief Antero Mukka said “Russians have very little chance to receive independent information about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.” This is due to the heavy restrictions placed on Russian media in the wake of the war by the country’s authorities, which bans what the state considers “false information” about the operations in Ukraine. But with Counter-Strike being one of the most popular games in Russia (it’s played by around four million people in the country) this was an opportunity for reporters to tell uncensored stories to those within the country.

Noting that games are still left unchecked by Russian authorities, Mukka said “We built a map of a Slavic city devastated by a war, inside the game, with a secret room that offers Russian gamers an uncensored access to the horrors of the war in Ukraine in their native language.”

“The secret room built into the game is meant to force Russian gamers to face what’s really going on in the war in Ukraine,” he added.

The map, titled “de_vonya” (the Russian term for ‘war’, which is currently censored by Russian authorities) depicts a town devastated by battle. While it is intended to reach the people of Russia, anyone who plays Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can access it, and so if you’re a player of Valve’s huge FPS then you can go take a look yourself.

For more unusual stories about the intersection between the Ukraine war and games, take a look at how the Steam Deck is being used on the frontlines.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.