Custom maps are being used to bypass Russian media restrictions.
Screenshot from a custom Counter-Strike Global Offensive map.

According to a report by GamesRadar+, a Finnish newspaper us making use of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to share reports of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These reports allow anybody playing the game, particularly those in Russia, to see the reality of what Russia's army is doing instead of the typical Russian propaganda the state media deems they should see.

Helsingin Sanomat launched a new Counter-Strike map earlier today that aims to pass along "independent journalism" on the war in Ukraine. The map's release appropriately falls on World Press Freedom Day.

"Russians have very little chance to receive independent information about Putin's invasion of Ukraine," Helsingin Sanomat editor-in-chief Antero Mukka tells GamesRadar+ in an email.

"However, the gaming world and gamers themselves are still left unchecked. That's why we decided to hide a newspaper inside the world's most popular war game. We built a map of a Slavic city devastated by a war, inside the game, with a secret room that offers Russian gamers an uncensored access to the horrors of the war in Ukraine in their native language."​
The new map in question is called "de_voyna" which apparently translates to the word "war." The map can be downloaded right now through the CS:GO Steam Workshop. The map itself depicts a small section of city that looks a bit ransacked. It's what lies outside the main area of the map that is noteworthy here. Found in a secret room accessible only by noclip or a spectator camera is a room that contains images and pieces of text showing the realities of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These are photographs and details witnessed by the reporters at Helsingin Sanomat.

Hidden room in CS:GO custom map showing reality of Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"Ordinary Russians know practically nothing about the war crimes and atrocities toward civilians committed by the Russian army," Mukka says.

"One of the most touching stories in the secret room is about a Ukrainian man that went to the store. While he was there, Russian troops killed his family with a missile strike. The secret room built into the game is meant to force Russian gamers to face what's really going on in the war in Ukraine."