Stories of war: NAVI founder talks being on the Ukraine frontline Facebook Alexander Kokhanovskyy\/DexertoNAVI founder Alexander Kokhanovskyy spoke to Dexerto about signing up to defend Ukraine in the war against Russia and how the conflict will impact the esports scene in his country. A few days into Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, there was no doubt in Alexander Kokhanovskyy\u2019s mind that he had to take part in his country\u2019s defensive efforts and help repel the invasion. Ukraine\u2019s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had declared a general mobilization and called on citizens to take up arms and protect their country. \u201cWe will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country,\u201d Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter. We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities. \u2014 Volodymyr Zelenskyy \/ \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2022 But Kokhanovskyy didn\u2019t need a weapon. He has his own AK-47, which he carries with him around Kyiv, his hometown. Like him, tens of thousands of ordinary Ukrainian civilians from all walks of life have joined the resistance. Engineers, musicians, businessmen \u2013 or, in Kokhanovskyy\u2019s case, the founder of NAVI and one of the most influential figures in Ukrainian esports. \u201cI would never forgive myself if I didn\u2019t do it,\u201d he said in an interview last week about signing up to fight. \u201cI pulled back in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea and Donbass, but this time I said \u2018no way\u2019, and that I wanted to help and defend my country.\u201d Kokhanovskyy answered my questions by audio messages during a brief period of respite from the frenzy of the war. He is part of a 20-man quick reaction force unit tasked with \u201cenhancing police territorial defence and other forces during certain missions\u201d in the Ukrainian capital, which has been under attack for 42 days now. His squad\u2019s days are structured, with a good portion of his time spent getting military training in Kyiv or close to the capital\u2019s borders, doing anything from shooting to tactical drills and basic combat medicine exercises. \u201cWhen we\u2019re done with those tasks, we have different requests. We assist with evacuation and help friends, family and strangers in need.\u201d Ver esta publica\u00e7\u00e3o no Instagram Kokhanovskyy had no military experience prior to the war, but he pointed out, in a half-joking manner, that he\u2019s putting his videogame knowledge to use. \u201cMy Counter-Strike skills help me a little bit,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cI\u2019m good at shooting. Reactions, teamwork, tactical sense \u2013 you can use some of that from Counter-Strike in real life.\u201d Initial reactions to his decision to join in the fighting were mixed. Friends and most of his family expressed support, while his mother was \u201cspeechless at first.\u201d \u201cBut then she said, \u2018I\u2019m proud of you. If you think that\u2019s the right thing and what you need to do, go ahead.\u2019\u201d A key figure in Ukrainian esports A former Counter-Strike player who competed under the nickname \u2018ZeroGravity\u2019 during the early 2000s, Kokhanovskyy played a central role in the creation of the team that would go on to establish an era of dominance never seen before in the region. As team manager, he watched up close as NAVI (then shortened to Na`Vi), became the best in the world in 2010, when it won a series of international tournaments, including IEM IV, ESWC and WCG. That team, featuring players like Yegor \u201cmarkeloff\u201d Markelov, Ioan \u201cEdward\u201d Sukharev and Danylo \u201cZeus\u201d Teslenko, helped put Ukrainian esports on the map. At the same time, it also laid the foundations for the current success the organization is enjoying as countless Ukrainian youngsters, including a certain Aleksandr \u2018s1mple\u2019 Kostyliev, began dreaming that they, too, could one day put on the yellow and black mantle and scale the greatest heights. As NAVI grew in size and scale, Kokhanovskyy took on the role of Chief Executive Officer, which he held until being replaced by Yevhen Zolotarov in 2017. He has ceased day-to-day involvement in the company, though his name is still the first one that appears on NAVI\u2019s staff page. Over the last five years, Kokhanovskyy has had a hand in multiple gaming-related projects. He co-founded DreamTeam, an infrastructure platform and payment gateway for esports, and DMarket.io, a decentralised marketplace. He was also involved in the $41 million purchase of the Dnipro Hotel, in Kyiv, which he wants to turn into the first esports-dedicated hotel in Europe. In July 2020, he became the president of the Ukrainian Professional Esports Association (UPEA), which is already \u201cthe number one tournament organizer in Ukraine\u201d, running competitions on all levels and playing an important social and educational role in Ukrainian society. \u201cWe have a responsibility league, a league for our veterans and one for people with disabilities,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe are also involved in research about how, for example, esports can help the veterans who come back from the war with post-traumatic stress. \u201cAs an association, we are helping to push esports within schools and universities. We\u2019re trying to build an esports model that is similar to South Korea\u2019s.\u201d Prior to the war, UPEA\u2019s goal was to make esports \u201cthe second-most popular discipline\u201d in Ukraine after football by 2025. Kokhanovskyy knows that such plans have been scuppered and that if the conflict drags on, it could take years for Ukrainian esports to go back to the level they were at before the turn of the year. \u201cThe impact of war will largely depend on how long it lasts,\u201d he says. \u201cThe longer it takes, the worse off esports in Ukraine will be. We\u2019re going to have to rebuild the country, and esports will not be a priority. \u201cIf it takes longer than six months, it will be challenging to think of anything other than rebuilding the country.\u201d Strained relationship One inescapable factor behind the success of multiple esports teams in the CIS region in recent years is the co-existence of players from different countries. NAVI\u2019s Major-winning CS:GO team has two players from Ukraine and three from Russia, and so does Team Spirit\u2019s Dota 2 squad, which pocketed over $18 million when it won The International in 2021. But as much as esports can provide an escape from reality, there\u2019s no denying that the war has disrupted what was, until a few months ago, a harmonious relationship between two scenes that often joined forces for a greater purpose. That unity seems to be a thing of the past, as NAVI have demonstrated. On March 1, the Ukrainian organization severed ties with Russia\u2019s ESforce Holding, whose properties include Virtus.pro and tournament organizer Epic Esports Events. \u201cWhile NAVI employees and players spend their days in bomb shelters, ESforce Holding publicly denies the horror that is now happening in Ukraine,\u201d NAVI wrote. This is a decision that Kokhanovskyy fully supports, despite his past ties to ESforce. He was a shareholder in the company when it owned the media and advertising sales rights to NAVI between 2016 and 2017. He divested his stake in ESforce in January 2018, according to his LinkedIn page. \u201cI think it\u2019s the right decision, 100 percent,\u201d he says. \u201cLike any Ukrainian, NAVI should cut ties with any business or government that supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine.\u201d The loss of partnerships, revenue and talent is a risk that NAVI are prepared to take. On March 31, the organization parted ways with Russian CS:GO academy trio Vladislav \u2018latt1kk\u2019 Vydrin, Dmitry \u2018fe2nk\u2019 Gladskikh and Vladislav \u2018xiELO-\u2018 Lysov. It\u2019s the first step in NAVI\u2019s plan to let go of players and staff unwilling \u2013 or unable \u2013 to leave Russia and relocate to another country, as revealed by Zolotarov, the CEO, in an interview with the Washington Post. This will affect every area of NAVI\u2019s operation, including the CS:GO team, the jewel of their crown, with a decision expected after their \u201cupcoming championships\u201d \u2013 which could mean as late as August as we now enter a busy period of the season that will stretch into July. Kokhanovskyy has no doubt that the growing division between Russians and Ukrainians generated by the war and the sanctions that are being levied on Russia-based organizations will have a \u201chuge\u201d impact on NAVI and the CIS esports scene as a whole. \u201cI think the majority of the game developers will try to isolate Russia-based organizations from participating in their tournaments or playing their games,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s the challenge we need to accept as a team and we need to find the best way to solve it \u2013 relocating players and thinking about different things that can help us further down the road. But it\u2019s too early to discuss that because we don\u2019t know when this war will end.\u201d \u2018No fear\u2019 Forty-two days into the invasion, there\u2019s still no end in sight to the war, which has killed thousands of people, displaced millions of refugees and devastated many cities across Ukraine. When we spoke, downtown Kyiv was being shelled indiscriminately on a daily basis. The war has since entered a new phase as Ukrainian forces have gone on the offensive, making considerable gains around the capital and in other parts of the country. Despite Russia\u2019s superior firepower, optimism is still intact. Kokhanovskyy says he is \u201c100 percent sure\u201d that Ukraine will emerge victorious from the war. \u201cIt\u2019s not possible to occupy a country or win a war against 40 million people,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen. \u201cEach day that passes is moving us closer to victory, but the question is the price we will need to pay for that victory. The longer it goes, the more devastating it will be.\u201d For now, Russian troops have retreated from occupied areas around Kyiv, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. There is a fleeting and fragile sense of peace in the capital, but Kokhanovskyy points out that the situation out there is much worse. \u201cIt\u2019s literal hell in certain cities,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s the worst thing you can imagine.\u201d Like many other Ukrainians, he never thought that war would erupt on his doorstep, but he is willing to do whatever it takes to defend his country. \u201cI don\u2019t want to live under any other country or under occupation,\u201d he told Anton Ptushkin, the owner of a popular YouTube channel in Ukraine called \u2018Anton somewhere\u2019. I asked him how he feels as he walks the streets of Kyiv in the middle of a war, gun in hand and dressed in military uniform. Is he afraid? Not anymore, he says. With a sigh, he confesses that he has been numbed by war and the atrocities that have befallen his people. \u201cAt first, you\u2019re scared, but now you hear those explosions every day, different ones,\u201d he says. \u201cYou hear shooting, and you are absolutely fine. \u201cHuman beings adapt to any circumstances. So after two or three weeks I was no longer afraid. I feel absolutely safe in Kyiv, despite the explosions, despite the shooting, despite everything I\u2019m seeing with my own eyes, unfortunately.\u201d Alexander Kokhanovskyy has started a fundraiser to help Ukrainians in need during the war. Please visit the GoFundMe page If you wish to make a donation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stories of war: NAVI founder talks being on the Ukraine frontline Facebook Alexander Kokhanovskyy\/DexertoNAVI founder Alexander Kokhanovskyy spoke to Dexerto about signing up to defend Ukraine in the war against Russia and how the conflict will impact the esports scene in his country. A few days into Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, there was no doubt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67006\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}