Hard Play on the war

He voiced his civic position in August 2022 during a stream dedicated to the war in Ukraine:

• He criticized a video by Ukrainian bloggers featuring an emotional appeal to Russians urging them to stop the war, dismissing the video as a "sponsored hit piece." When discussing violations of "legal norms"—in rhetoric characteristic of Russian state propagandists—he countered with examples of the U.S. bombings of Iraq and Yugoslavia, as well as the shelling of the "DPR" and "LPR." He defended Putin's nuclear threats and thanked the blogger 715 for a video justifying the war.

No one can speak about the war like the people who participate in it or are involved—the civilians and those fulfilling their duty on one side and the other. All other people, like me, just have an ordinary opinion... There are things I disagree with, that they are «bombing»... «deliberately blasting the hell out of things»—I'm not there, I cannot say what is happening there...

• While watching a video by the YouTube channel "Slivki Show" about the war in Ukraine showing footage of destruction and civilian suffering during the first weeks of the invasion, he claimed that this footage allegedly depicted the Donbas. At the same time, he mocked the video itself, claiming it contained "complete disinformation that shocked everyone, even Ukrainians."

• Throughout the stream, Hard Play formally broadcast the concept of "peace to the world," yet consistently stressed that he "knows nothing for sure" because he is not personally in the conflict zone. Despite such claims, he continued to deploy a standard set of popular propaganda tropes: about "fraternal nations," about the "DPR and LPR," and that "sanctions don't affect us."

• He also mocked Joe Biden's statement that the attack on Ukraine was "premeditated and unprovoked": "Unprovoked, fuck, completely unprovoked! A man woke up in the morning and thought: ‘What can I go and smash the shit out of today?’ Ah, fuck it, let's go!"

• Furthermore, he echoed the Russian propaganda narrative about "punishers" in Ukraine allegedly causing chaos in their own country.

From Hard's arguments, one can conclude that he believes no one is in the right in this conflict, which supposedly means one doesn't need to make a choice, try to understand the essence of what is happening, or seek a solution—it is simpler to just wait until "everything resolves on its own." Hard appears completely unaware of what is actually happening in the world and in Ukraine, even after statements by his own president regarding alleged "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine and other such claims.

In September 2022, he reflected on mobilization, emphasizing his readiness to remain in his country and serve it:

Speaking about who is right, who is to blame, who is bad, who is good—history will decide later. When they say—no, these ones are bad, no—those ones are bad. We will never know the truth... Excuse my bluntness, but I'll tell it like it is. By twist of fate, for a very long time, an entire contract—5 years—I served in the armed forces of my country. I live in Russia, my entire family are also military personnel. Right now I had a billion options to leave for another country, go anywhere all the way to the States. Take my entire family out. Just leave everything behind, sell off everything and take them away from my country where my ancestors grew up, the country where my children are growing up.... I will never leave. To up and abandon my country—I will never do that.... I won't hide under my mother's skirt.. I am who I am, I am a reserve officer. If fate dictates that I perish—that is my fate. I think my father would have done the same, as would any other literate, self-respecting person. I would do the same if I were a citizen of Ukraine.

In essence, in the midst of mobilization, he voiced to his audience the thesis: "It's not clear who is to blame in this war, but go fight for the motherland, it's your duty."