“All of us are] scared, and all of us need to show [an] example [at] this tournament for [the] whole world,” s1mple said. “We need to stay together as a unit because our fans, because our friends, because everyone who’s gonna watch this tournament. We all need to stay humans first.”

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A couple days later, Ukrainian Olympic sports and NBA broadcaster Vitalii Volochai reported that s1mple had donated $33,265 to the Ukrainian army, though s1mple has not publicly said anything yet.

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It is noteworthy that, while many individuals and organizations, including Cyberpunk 2077 maker CD Projekt Red, are donating to the Ukrainian Red Cross or other humanitarian organizations, s1mple has opted instead to give money to Ukraine’s military. Perhaps, being based in Kyiv, his primary concern is repelling the invaders in the hopes of keeping his city, his country, and his people as safe as possible.

Kotaku has reached out to s1mple for comment.

While this may be his most eyebrow-raising donation thus far, this isn’t s1mple’s first time willingly parting ways with money. Back in November 2018, he donated all the money he made from the FACEIT Pro League tournament to the men’s health charity organization MovemberUK. The full total was never disclosed, but that event had a weekly prize offering of $5,200.

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