Russian invasion of Ukraine draws outcry, action from video game and esports industries

The teams most impacted by these decisions are Gambit Esports and Virtus.pro. Gambit is owned by the telecommunications company Mobile TeleSystems, whose largest shareholder is a company headed by the Russian billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov. On Feb. 24, Yevtushenkov was present at a Kremlin meeting between Putin and representatives of Russian big business. Virtus.pro shares a connection with the Russian insurance firm SOGAZ, which fell under European Union sanctions following the invasion.