Gaming the Invasion

Independent outlet Novaya Gazeta Evropa reported on who is making video games that glorify Russia’s War on Ukraine, and how successful those games have been.

From 2022 to 2024, Russia’s Institut Razvitiya Interneta ("Internet Development Institute," or IRI), which funds pro-Kremlin media projects, gave developers of "Smuta" ("Time of Troubles") about R500 million ($5.8 million), the largest state grant in the history of Russia’s gaming industry. "Smuta" is not entirely a propaganda project, but its financing shows how much the state is prepared to spend on games.

That support has also gone to games that justify Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One example is "Otryad 22: ZOV" ("Squad 22: ZOV"), released in May 2025 by a Moscow studio that calls itself independent while saying it cooperates with Russian ministries and government agencies. Its CEO, Alexander Tolkach, son of a former Russian ambassador to Hungary, said that Russian military’s Main Military-Political Directorate approached him about quickly and cheaply making a game about the war in Ukraine. The game includes campaigns titled "Donbasskaya Vesna" ("Donbas Spring"), Mariupol, Kontrnastupleniye VSU ("Ukrainian Armed Forces Counteroffensive") and Avdeyevka. Most missions involve clearing territory with small infantry units. Its developers acknowledge borrowing mechanics and visual ideas from "Door Kickers 2," a tactical game about U.S. special forces set in a fictional country.

In "Otryad 22," one mission allows players to kill Ukrainian troops by planting poisoned drugs. Another involves interrogating a Ukrainian civilian willing to reveal Ukrainian military positions. When the game appeared on Steam, some users accused its creators of propaganda and justifying Russia’s invasion. Steam later blocked it for Russian-region accounts without explanation. According to SteamDB, its peak concurrent player count was just 50. At publication, it had no active players.

Russian state media promoted the release, gaming journalists largely ignored it, while some reviewers criticized technical problems. Tolkach promised new levels tied to Russian "successes at the front." But the game’s VK and Telegram channels have posted no updates since October 2025.

A more successful title is "Kuindzhi, 93," released free on Steam and VK Play on May 20, 2026, a date Russian propaganda marks as the anniversary of the occupation of Mariupol. Rather than presenting direct military propaganda, the first-person adventure uses a "volunteer" narrative. The protagonist travels to Mariupol after his father is sent to the front, delivering aid, operating a reconnaissance drone, and completing other tasks.

The publisher, Smysl Media ("Meaning Media"), is led by Yekaterina Agranovich, a Donetsk-region native, daughter of pro-Russian separatist Alexander Agranovich and a registered representative of Vladimir Putin during the 2024 presidential election. By late May, the developers said "Kuindzhi, 93," had been downloaded more than 120,000 times. SteamDB recorded a peak of 1,080 concurrent players.

Another 2026 release, "Gostomelskiye Bogatyri" ("Gostomel Heroes"), focuses on the opening phase of Russia’s invasion, including fighting around Hostomel Airport and Irpin. "Gostomelskiye Bogatyri" is a real-time strategy, or RTS, game. Most missions require players to capture or defend territory while coordinating different military units. Players face not only numerically superior enemy forces but also a striking, at times almost unrealistic imbalance between unit types. Heavy vehicles, for example, are highly vulnerable to infantry, making the outcome of a confrontation between a tank and a lone soldier with a grenade launcher difficult to predict.

Moscow studio Cats Who Play developed the game; it previously made "Siriya: Russkaya Burya" ("Syria: Russian Storm"), a 2017 strategy game portraying the Syrian war from the perspective of Russian forces. Cats Who Play said in 2017 that it financed that project itself. In 2024, however, the studio confirmed that it was working with the state-backed IRI.