- Title: Ukraine's special forces fight in virtual world
- Date: 29th September 2019
- Summary: ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SPECIAL FORCES OFFICERS COMING ON STAGE BEFORE GAMING TOURNAMENT PEOPLE IN AUDIENCE VARIOUS OF SPECIAL FORCES OFFICERS PLAYING COUNTER STRIKE ON COMPUTERS VARIOUS OF THEIR COMPETITORS FROM AUDIENCE PLAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS REGIMENT NUMBER 3 OFFICER, VITALIY, SAYING: "We came here today to support this exhibition, to show ourselves, to remind people about us, so that the visitors and participants of the exhibition understand that life is not only about computers, that there's real life, and there is a war going on in this real life, where people really die. Unfortunately, at this moment this is what life really is in Ukraine." SPECIAL FORCES OFFICERS SHAKING HANDS WITH OPPONENTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) EXHIBITION VISITOR AND COUNTER STRIKE GAMING TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANT, ALEXANDER (FULL NAME NOT GIVEN), SAYING: "It was very interesting, an unusual experience, they have unusual tactics, quite unexpected moves, I must say. In some situations I really didn't know what to do." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) EXHIBITION VISITOR AND COUNTER STRIKE GAMING TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANT, GEORGIY (FULL NAME NOT GIVEN), SAYING: "I liked it. It was hard, it was quite 'sweaty' as we call it. But everything's fine, it was organised really well too." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PLAYING COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES AT EXHIBITION
- Embargoed: 13th October 2019 10:42
- Keywords: Ukraine CEEgames Counter Strike CEE Ukrainian special forces Electronics and Videogames Exhibition Kiev computer games
- Location: KIEV, UKRAINE
- City: KIEV, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Video Games
- Reuters ID: LVA003AYPMFCP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ukrainian special forces officers used their combat skills against young civilians on Saturday (September 28) in a computer gaming tournament in the capital Kiev.
The Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournament was held at a gaming exhibition named CEE - the largest annual electronics and gaming exhibition in Ukraine, held since 2006.
Besides presentation of the latest games, visitors also tested new gaming equipment: monitors, speakers, consoles and laptops.
Special forces servicemen dressed in full gear with their faces covered in masks, posed for photos with young gaming fans and tried their best tactics when it came to the tournament, but lost to the team of visitors.
However, they managed to reach their other goal - to remind the visitors and young people about the war, which was still going on in the country.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia went into freefall after Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of a Kremlin-backed separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people. Sporadic fighting continues despite a ceasefire agreement.
Russia denies sending troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine.
(Production: Yuri Muravyov, Maria Stromova) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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