Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Twitch Streamers with a Russian Bank Account Will No Longer Receive Payments

Editor’s Note: The war in Ukraine is an ongoing, painful and emotive topic. IGN urges community members to be respectful when engaging in conversation around this subject and does not endorse harassment of any kind.

Twitch has stopped all payments streamers with a Russian bank account.

The move is in line with economic sanctions currently held against the nation following its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian streamers now report that Twitch has ceased making payments to them. The popular streamer Alexey ‘Jesus AVGN’ Gubanov shared an email via Twitter that he received from Twitch.

In line with the sanctions imposed on Russia, Twitch is restricting payments being issued to streamers in Russia

“we will do everything possible to pay the income you have earned as soon as we are allowed to do so” pic.twitter.com/Qnx821rBXe

— GUARD Hunter (@HUN2R) March 5, 2022

The email details how Twitch is complying with sanctions against Russia and offers to pay the streamer if he can provide “a new payment method”.

During an interview with The Washington Post, Gubanov explained how the sanctions are affecting him despite previously moving to the U.S. due to his stance against Putin.

“I have been blocked from payments from Twitch, many advertisers have left the Russian market, and my Visa and Mastercard cards will soon be blocked abroad,” he explained. “For many years, I have been against the Putin regime, because of which I had to flee my home country, and yet I still have to answer for all the terrible actions of Putin, even in another country.”

It’s thought that Twitch has reached out to streamers in the country to let them know about how the situation will impact them.

“Twitch complies with the terms of the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other governments, and is complying with those imposed in response to the situation in Ukraine,” says the official email.

“These sanctions may limit or impact your access to payouts, ability to monetize your stream, and/or financially support other creators.”

“We appreciate how frustrating and difficult this is and would like to reassure you that if you can’t provide an alternative financial institution, we will do our best to pay you revenues you have earned as soon as we are permitted to do so.”

Sanctions imposed by The European Commission, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada effectively stop any people or businesses from conducting trade or making transactions with Russian individuals, businesses, or institutions – including any of the country’s banks.

Twitch has also introduced new rules to stop the spreading of misinformation. The policy update will allow Twitch to take action against accounts deemed to be spreading false information – such as the video game footage being passed off as real-life war footage.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.