IShowSpeed on the war

IShowSpeed's stance on the war in Ukraine

IShowSpeed's stance on the war in Ukraine can be described as ambiguous. The streamer expressed sympathy for Ukraine, but has never directly called Russia an aggressor state and avoided political assessments of the war.

Call to pray for Ukraine

In the first days of the full-scale invasion, Darren suggested to his viewers holding a moment of silence:

We're going to do a quick prayer before the stream starts due to the war, due to what's going on with Ukraine and Russia. [...] You've got to pray for Ukraine, bro, because you know, this is messed up. And even if you still don't know what's going on, pray anyway.

The streamer urged prayers for Ukraine and expressed sympathy for those affected, but spoke about the war as something "going on with Ukraine and Russia", without naming the culprit behind the conflict.

Mentions of Ukraine during streams

In 2024, during one of his livestreams, IShowSpeed spoke with a girl from Ukraine who worked at an animal shelter. Learning that she was Ukrainian, the streamer reacted warmly: he asked how to say "hello" in Ukrainian, and then repeated after her: «Pryvit».

In 2025, during another livestream, IShowSpeed chatted with a Ukrainian who caught his attention by doing a backflip. During their brief conversation, the guy told the streamer about Ukraine and mentioned famous Kherson watermelons, calling them the best in the world. When the American blogger became interested, the Ukrainian invited him to visit Ukraine and promised to treat him to watermelons. IShowSpeed responded positively to the invitation, though he did not announce any actual plans to travel to Ukraine.

Plans to visit Russia in summer 2026

In 2025, IShowSpeed mentioned several times during livestreams that he might visit Russia in the summer of 2026 as part of his tour.

While chatting with Russian streamer Buster, IShowSpeed also stated that he would like to come to Russia.

Furthermore, meeting a Russian woman during an IRL stream, the blogger spoke positively about Russia and said: «I love Russia! That's where my family is. I'm coming there next year!». 

Reaction of the Baltic states to a possible trip to Russia

During his European tour, the streamer's team assured representatives of the Baltic states that IShowSpeed had no plans to visit the Russian Federation.

The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) noted that not every statement made by the blogger on livestream should be taken as an actual plan, as IShowSpeed is known for emotional and provocative statements intended for entertainment value.

The discussion of a possible visit drew additional attention due to the streamer's financial cooperation with the Baltic states. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia planned to pay IShowSpeed €30,000 each for promoting their countries during the European tour. Latvia's Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis stated that if the blogger were to visit Russia, Latvia would refuse the payment, as such a visit could be seen as support for the aggressor state.

Plans to visit Ukraine in 2027

In August 2026, on one of his streams, IShowSpeed announced that he plans to visit Ukraine in 2027 as part of his worldwide tour. Whether the blogger also plans to visit Russia and Belarus, as previously speculated, has not yet been officially confirmed.

IShowSpeed expressed sympathy for Ukraine, but did not condemn the Russian invasion and at the same time publicly expressed a desire to visit Russia during the war. Therefore, his position can neither be described as openly pro-Russian nor consistently pro-Ukrainian.