Journalists use CS:GO to report on the war between Russia and Ukraine

The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues. Unfortunately, the country led by Vladimir Putin has multiple restrictions that make it difficult, almost impossible, for accurate news to reach Russian citizens. Faced with this, a newspaper took drastic measures to avoid censorship.

At the height of the war, Russia's central assembly ruled that spreading false information is a crime that carries penalties of up to 15 years in prison. These restrictions forced the media to withdraw from the country to avoid being called traitors and facing legal sanctions for talking about the conflict.

To commemorate World Press Freedom Day, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's largest newspaper, took an unconventional route to ensure that news reaches Russian citizens. What did they do? Share information about the armed conflict on a map of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Specifically, the Finnish media hired two designers to create a special map in Valve's FPS. The scenario is named de_voyna, and features a hidden room where news about the war between Russia and Ukraine is shared. To access it, players must die in the game to be able to pass through walls and other structures.

The hidden room contains newspaper articles detailing the alleged war crimes perpetrated by Russian elements during the conflict. It includes statistics on missile attacks and the wave of deaths in Bucha, where mass graves were discovered. A section indicates the locations in Ukraine that the Russian army attacked in recent months.

Even one of the rooms shows the number of Russian soldiers who died on Ukrainian soil. However, Helsingin Sanomat acknowledged that the figure may be inaccurate. "It is impossible to obtain an accurate count of victims, because all parties downplay their losses and exaggerate those of the opponent," they said.

"The senseless aggression of Russia against Ukraine killed tens of thousands of civilians, including children. The least we can do is expose Putin's war crimes and Russian propaganda," said one of the map creators, who preferred to remain anonymous.

Now, why did Helsingin Sanomat decide to use Counter-Strike: Global Offensive? As detailed in their article, the multiplayer shooter is very popular in Russia with over 4 million players.

But tell us, what do you think of these measures? Let us know in the comments.