Esports in the Crosshairs of a Cool War: Emotions as a Tool for Involvement in the Ukrainian-Russian Conflict

<ns3:p>The article examines the role of emotions as a tool for engaging citizens within the Ukrainian esports community in the context of Ukrainian-Russian conflict. Amid increasing war tensions, esports in the informational and cultural space is an important channel for the formation of patriotic sentiments and emotional involvement of citizens, including those of mobilization age. The article is based on the concepts of temptation by J. Baudrillard, the society of the spectacle by G. Debord, and dromology by P. Virillo. These socio-philosophical approaches allow us to analyze critically how emotional experiences, detached from real physical sensations, are created and manipulated in a virtual environment. The research employs analysis of documents, including advertising campaigns by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, official documents from the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, as well as messages on esports platforms addressing military topics. The study demonstrates how esports, despite the declared apolitical nature of sports, is involved in an information campaign that uses emotions to activate patriotic attitudes and unite youth around national identity, and stimulate processes of the military mobilization. The main conclusion is that the emotions heightened by elements of the esports environment play an important role in today's political context, turning esports into a channel of military propaganda.</ns3:p>