Ukrainian e-sports athlete Alexander s1mple Kostylev was harshly criticized on social networks after a match at the Counter-Strike 2 IEM Krakow 2026 tournament for his handshake with Russian player Denis electroNic Sharipov, who plays on the same team as him. RIA Novosti reports this.
The incident happened after the BC.Game team's victory over the Brazilian Legacy team with a score of 2:0. After the meeting, the players congratulated each other, the handshake moment between Kostylev and Sharipov was broadcast and recorded with screenshots, which quickly spread on social networks. This caused a negative reaction from part of the Ukrainian audience, who began to actively discuss this episode in the comments section.
“Let's send him to the front (Simpla),” wrote a user with the nickname Finspong.
At the same time, there are those in the professional community who view the situation more calmly, noting the sporting nature of the incident. Kostylev and Sharipov previously played together for several years for the Ukrainian organization Natus Vincere, and in the fall of 2025 they were on the same BC.Game team again, but before the tournament in Krakow they had only played together in online competitions.
IEM Krakow 2026 will end on February 8. The total prize fund of the tournament is 1 million USD.
Previously, social networks were heatedly discussing the photo of Vitalik Buterin wearing socks with holes in them.
