Which player are we talking about?

• Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov was the ingame boss of Natus Vincere, he is considered “the brain” of the team. Natus Vincere is also played by s1mple, a Ukrainian who is considered the best CS:GO player in the world.
• Boombl4 is an experienced player in CS:GO: he has been a pro since 2016 and has earned over a million US dollars in prize money during his time. In 2021 alone, he raked in $830,000: After all, Natus Vincere won some high-paying tournaments last year (via esportsearnings).
• The Russian had been with NAVI since May 2019, captaining the team since September 2019 and winning many titles. But now the career of Booml4 at NAVI is over.

Decision has nothing to do with his game

That’s what the team says: The team announces that they have parted ways with Booml4 after the Major in Antwerp. The team finished second there and collected $150,000.

It says (via navi.gg):

The decision refers to the high reputational risk for the club, it is not the result of his game.

How to replace Booml4, they want to announce later. There is no other official information.

The team’s top player, s1mple, said on Twitter somewhat resignedly that this is just the way the world works. He thanked the player, saying, “Without Boombl4, the team wouldn’t have achieved any of the successes they’ve gotten together.

Player repeatedly spoke out for peace, apologizes for his wife

This is what the player had said before: Even if no one says it so openly, the war by Russia in Ukraine is apparently behind the dismissal.

The captain had already said a few weeks before his dismissal in a statement on May 5 (via escorenews): He was sorry that he had kept quiet about everything for so long. He apologizes for the behavior of his wife Lika.

The Russian says he has been to Ukraine many times, he has never been discriminated against. He is sorry that other citizens believed the television. It is hard for the reasonable people like him to say things at this time.

He knows that many will not be satisfied with his message, but he wants to say that he stands for peace and against bloodshed.

That is all he can say now, he said.

What do you think is behind it? Natus Vincere is a Ukrainian team: the head of the team had said he was not willing to work with Russian players who continued to live in Russia. As a result, the three Russian professionals of Natus Vincere had agreed to leave their home country.

But now it is unclear whether Boombl4 revoked this decision and therefore had to leave.

It is known that Boombl4 has repeatedly spoken out in favor of peace since the war in Ukraine began. However, his wife has pledged her support to Russia. Thus, she has shown herself on Instagram with the Russian flag on her face and Russian tanks in the background.

The site Sportskeeda suspects that the Ukrainian team NAVI could take this situation as a reason to part ways with Boombl4.

It is well known that Russian citizens put themselves in personal danger when they speak critically about the war. Therefore, it is difficult for Russians living in Russia to take a clear and critical position on their country’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Even though many in the West would like them to do so:

Russian Twitch streamers lose their livelihood overnight