Russian Dota 2 pro player Pure draws out a symbol of war in-game during match against Ukrainian team

sportskeeda.com:

A professional Russian Dota 2 player is allegedly under fire for incidentally drawing a controversial symbol relating to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The conflict erupted on February 24 of this year and has been a sensitive topic across the global discourse. Since then, internet personalities and content creators alike have shown their true colors on their platforms and even through fan-favorite video games.

Virtus.pro's Ivan "Pure" was clipped drawing the letter 'Z' in-game during a recent Eastern European Dota 2 Pro Circuit match. The Russian team's opponents at the time belonged to the Ukrainian team, Mind Games.

In the bottom left corner of the screen, Pure is seen drawing out the letter 'Z' on the minimap that is supposedly only visible to teammates. However, the match itself was livestreamed on Twitch and casters watched on in confusion as the Dota 2 pro immediately scribbled over the symbol.

For Russian nationalists, the letter 'Z' is indicatively a war symbol, and was first seen on Russian military tanks amidst the Eastern European crisis. Soon enough, those in power and famous personalities were seen sporting the symbol to endorse the raging conflict surrounding Russia and Ukraine.

The letter 'Z' does not exist in the Russian alphabet, but there are two explanations for its existence. It could possibly mean "za pobedy," or "for victory." Some also predict that it could also stand for "zapad" or "West." The latter can be attested by Ukraine's placement on the world map, as it is west of Russia.

While it has not yet been confirmed whether the Dota 2 pro himself aligns himself with such ideologies, his decision to draw the letter 'Z' in a match against a Ukrainian team during a televised event was received pretty poorly.