Bizarre propaganda stunt sees teenager stream 'Russia vs NATO' grand strategy game from notorious mercenary group's HQ
pcgamer.comThe Wagner mercenary group(opens in new tab), a kind of Russian Blackwater(opens in new tab), is notorious. Founded by catering magnate, oligarch, and Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, the merc outfit has plugged a hole in Russia's war machine by making up for a deficit in recruits for the country's regular military. It operates in Syria, Africa, and Ukraine (where many of its fighters are drawn from Russian prisons, a practice whose end the group only announced today(opens in new tab)), and has been accused of war crimes(opens in new tab) by multiple international organisations. In short, it's not the kind of institution you'd expect to host a videogame stream, yet here we are.
In a stream on VKontakte from last weekend(opens in new tab), a Russian streamer going by GrishaPutin appeared to play a four-hour, multiplayer match of Hearts of Iron 4 from the Wagner Group's building in St. Petersburg. Dressed in full military gear in a curiously empty Wagner office, the streamer—who says he's 16 years old—joined over 20 other online players in acting out what was, essentially, World War 3. The game had been modded to take place in the modern era, with leaders like, yes, Vladimir Putin standing in for HoI4's traditional roster of Axis and Allied heads of state.
It was a baffling sight, and after first seeing the tale on Reddit(opens in new tab), I was convinced that GrishaPutin must have rigged up some kind of greenscreen to emulate the appearance of Wagner's HQ behind him. But no, it seems to be real: On multiple occasions, the streamer picks up his webcam and shows off other parts of the office, moves to the background to hang up his army uniform at the end, and is reflected in the glass behind him throughout.
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