Today, a thread on resetera from user RedbullCola titled “Escape from Tarkov directly funds the Invasion of Ukraine through partnerships” linked to a pair of imgur galleries that has been traded around on social media before.
The two galleries show a series of images that draw an apparent close relationship between Battlestate Games, particularly COO Nikita Buyanov, and Russian gun enthusiasts 715 Team. The images show Buyanov in pictures with 715 Team members, firing guns with them, and show in-game screenshots of alleged tributes to the group—graffiti and cosmetics that read “715” and “train hard,” part of the group’s slogan.
Members of 715 Team, which has a YouTube channel with 1.65 million subscribers, have allegedly supported and taken part in the invasion according to a 2022 report by Ukrainian news outlet Babel. The report discusses Battlestate’s perceived proximity to Russian military efforts at length. It states that Buyonav recorded promotional videos with Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov before the invasion and claims that, though Battlestate is silent on the Russian state’s actions now, its employees have allegedly been spotted in friendly photos with unapologetic supporters of the war.
I cannot verify the bulk of Babel’s claims as many of them link to deleted Instagram posts and YouTube videos. The imgur galleries, similarly, hinge in part on context tied to sentiment expressed in videos that are either deleted or in Russian. This is not the first time Battlestate Games has been the target of scrutiny on this topic; a thread on the Tarkov subreddit documents a time when scavs could allegedly spawn with an anti-Ukrainian slur as their in-game name.
To reiterate, Battlestate Games has never voiced formal support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Still, the alleged relationships described amid the reports and forum posts are garnering attention on social media, as seen in this Reddit thread posted by Suibeam. The most-upvoted comment on that thread reads, “Not only is their game a buggy piece of shit, they’re straight up bad people.” Another from user Captain_Leemu reads, “It genuinely makes me feel sick to know that innocent people are dying and the murderers are using money from a game I bought. If I could refund it I would. Fuck Nikita.”
Another dimension to this is the large number of current and former Tarkov fans in Ukraine. In 2022, Ukrainian Twitch streamer Bobi bid his audience farewell while choking back tears. While he was streaming Escape from Tarkov, he felt the impact of nearby bombs falling shake the ground beneath his feet: Russian military forces had begun a now-yearslong invasion of Ukraine, and he’d spend the next four days fleeing 900 miles toward his home country’s western border. He did not flee the country, instead staying to help aid the humanitarian effort.
The role of modern military shooters, and mass-consumption entertainment writ large, in jingoist propaganda is both widespread in many countries and well-documented. The US military uses games like Call of Duty actively in its recruitment strategies as reported by The Guardian, and Hollywood films that portray the Department of Defense have a long history of cooperation with the Pentagon in exchange for access to equipment—Iron Man and 007: Tomorrow Never Dies, for example. When MCU flick Captain Marvel took to theaters, the United States Air Force was quick to cross-promote the movie.
Entertainment plays a tangible role in the social control militaries and governments depend on, and games like Escape from Tarkov are no exception. If you’re able and so inclined, you can donate to organizations helping the humanitarian effort in Ukraine like World Central Kitchen or Razom for Ukraine.
