Fnatic suspended BraveAF for supporting Russian invasion

Fnatic has suspended Braveaf from their active Valorant roster after some screenshots got leaked on Braveaf supporting Russia. Screencaps were posted on Twitter urging strict action against the 26-year-old professional player.

Andrey “BraveAF” Gorchakov joined the Fnatic Valorant roster in January 2022, and he has been a standout performer since then. With BraveAF on their side, Fnatic has been performing exceptionally well, especially at the NA Challenge One, where they qualified for Master 1 Reykjavik.

BraveAF was accused of supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier today after a screenshot of his personal conversation with his Ukrainian friend got leaked. According to its English translation, the esports player expressed his belief in “Putin’s cause” as he mentioned, “Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus will be a single whole, Cause nobody wants it in the west”. He also used phrases like “it’s not about civilians” and  “West wants the collapse of the CIS” but he quickly followed up with a tweet explaining the whole thing. However, he’ll be suspended until Fnatic finishes its investigation and announces its verdict.

Another side of the story

The esports player claimed that he had little knowledge of the scenario at the time of the conversation, which occurred on February 24, and that all he wanted to do was make sure she was okay. He further added that this was “his initial view on the issue” and  “nobody knew exactly what was going on”. He says he is on the side of peace and wants the war to end and does not want anyone harmed or dead.

Fnatic has loaned Fea from Alliance and he will represent Fnatic at the VCT Masters Reykjavik. The organization was reported to be seeking a stand-in for BraveAF prior to his suspension due to flight restrictions enforced on Russia.

Alliance is in a bad spot following the departures of general manager James Banks and Sigurd “Zik” Jensen. Alliance has just missed out on important leagues: the EMEA VCT Challengers One main event and the VRL Northern Europe Promotion Tournament.

Derke will not compete in the Masters, more changes are expected

Fnatic will make further changes to its starting lineup because Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev will miss the upcoming tournament due to illness. According to esports writer Halo, Derke has been ruled out of the competition due to illness and will not be representing Fnatic at the 2022 VCT Masters Reykjavik.

The organization is already on the lookout for a replacement for Derke and will make more changes to its starting lineup in the upcoming days, despite the fact that the new players have yet to be identified. Because Derke used Jett in 65 percent of his matches in the last three months, Fnatic might go for Jett or Raze main as a stand-in as the team will begin their run on April 10 at Masters Reykjavik.