During times of respite from their duties protecting Ukraine from Russia, Ukrainian soldiers enjoy playing the popular video game World of Tanks.

Resting from the Russian War with War in World of Tanks

A New York Times report found that there are Ukrainian soldiers who often play World of Tanks. One of these soldiers confirmed this, saying that soldiers in training and in the frontlines were found playing this game. Even a tank screw was spotted with a World of Tanks logo on their T-80 main battle tank. Lt. Nazar Vernyhora, a war hero, said that he played from time to time, whenever he got a bit of free time. He gained renown for commanding a tank that destroyed armoured personnel carriers and damaging a Russian tank in a battle outside of Kyiv.

With Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet being active across Ukraine’s battlefields, soldiers have been playing the multiplayer game on their smartphones. This again showcases the accessibility of mobile gaming and the versatility of smartphones. Wars often carry long stretches of silence, which causes boredom among soldiers.

So gaming is a great way to break the monotony of the training, guarding, and patrolling cycle. For those unaware, World of Tanks pits two teams of tanks against one another. However, the game’s depiction of the war would seem pretty close to reality for the Ukrainian soldiers who are actually fighting the war.

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The Other Side

Just like the Ukrainians, Russians also have a decent player base in World of Tanks. Just last month, we covered a report on Russia using video games to spread propaganda, with World of Tanks being a great example. In the game, Russian players re-enacted the battle for Soledar, which is a city in Ukraine. But setting this aside, both sides of the war are probably playing against one another every now and then in a virtual battlefield as well.