The Russian Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko (26) is a professional in Counter-Strike 2, the biggest game on Steam. With Counter-Strike, he has earned about $190,000 in 97 tournaments, but now his career is under fire. He presented a weapon that looked harmless on one side but displayed a racist word on the other. He says he didn’t know this because he had never looked at the weapon from the wrong side before.
What did the player do?? KradCS showed a Desert Eagle in Counter-Strike 2 that had the racist N-word on one side of the weapon. When held in the right hand, the word was visible. When held in the left hand, the weapon looked innocuous.
According to a translation, the player said:
Look, I bought a new Deagle. It’s cool. Here is the new one. And when you switch to the right hand, it’s even better… with stickers. Unfortunately, I don’t play with my right hand.
He is then said to have stated that he would “only” play the weapon with his right hand, although he is actually known for carrying weapons in Counter-Strike 2 with his left hand.
Player creates a racist skin with stickers
How is such a skin even possible? The skin is not in the game like that. But in Counter-Strike 2, there are “stickers” for weapons, and these stickers were arranged and layered on the weapon in such a way that they formed the racist N-word. It is not known whether the Russian made this himself or bought the weapon like this.
How is this being discussed? An influencer shared a clip of the incident on X and said: “He denies having noticed it because he usually plays only with his left hand.”
The comments on Twitter are somewhat mixed:
- Many have initial questions about how such a skin could even come about and how it is possible for such a skin to exist in the biggest game on Steam.
- Many believe that the audacity of the player alone should lead to severe penalties in esports from Twitch, Steam operator Valve, or ESL.
- One says: “The guy just crashed his career in a speed run.”
- However, there are also people who take the incident with a shrug and comment with “It’s just Russia” or “It’s just Counter-Strike.”
Some are also sending messages to his esports team 9Pandas that he has behaved racially and should be fired.
Player himself says: He didn’t notice it before
This is what the player says: On January 22, 2025, Krad wrote on Twitter/X:
Hey guys. I saw the post about the Deagle. I just wanted to tell you: I bought the weapon less than a week ago and didn’t see it at all because I only play with my left hand and it’s mirrored. Have a good and productive day!
But it seems that no one really believes him. In response tweets, it’s said that the player should already fill out his application at McDonald’s. His career is over. His argumentation is understood as a bad excuse. But many wish him a good and productive day.
Especially in Russia, Counter-Strike 2 is a relevant and significant game, but as an old Russian proverb says: Luck in Counter-Strike, misfortune in marriage: CS:GO: Player proposes to wife after World Cup victory, she destroys his life – This is what he is doing today
