UNITED24 and GSC Game World Announce S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Giveaway for Chornobyl Demining

Sep 11, 2026 15:58

4 min read

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Roman Kohanets

News Writer

The partnership was announced jointly by the two organizations, with proceeds directed to UNITED24's Humanitarian Demining program, which equips Ukrainian sappers with the gear needed to clear Russian explosive ordnance from liberated land.

Participants can win a range of limited-edition S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 × UNITED24 collectibles. The rarest prizes, according to the announcement, are five commemorative keychains crafted from the fuselage of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter that Ukrainian forces shot down over Chornobyl during the occupation of the zone.

The money raised will go toward clearing mines and other explosive remnants left behind after Russian troops seized the area. Their presence endangers people working there, complicates scientific research and environmental protection efforts, and can slow emergency responses, including those to wildfires.

The Exclusion Zone spans 260,000 hectares. At least eight explosions have wounded or killed staff and servicemembers to date.

"Demining the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is first and foremost about the safety of the people who work there every day—scientists and energy workers," Ihor Bezkaravainyi of Ukraine's Ministry of Economy and Environment stated. Particular attention, he noted, is being paid to creating safe routes for firefighting and rescue teams so they can reach wildfires without risking mines.

Volodymyr Baida, Director of the Humanitarian Demining Center, described the zone as "one of the most dangerous areas on the planet." The disaster's aftermath, he added, has been compounded by contamination with mines and other explosive ordnance from the full-scale war.

On the first day of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces seized the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and occupied the Exclusion Zone. National Guard soldiers defending the site were encircled, and plant employees were taken hostage. After Ukrainian troops liberated the territory, mines and other explosive remnants left by Russian forces were discovered across it.

GSC Game World framed the effort as a mission bound to national identity. "Chornobyl is the beating heart of our gaming universe," the studio stated. "Our goal is simple: ensure that danger exists only within the game, while real Ukrainian soil becomes safe once again as quickly as possible."

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The campaign marks the second collaboration between the two partners. In 2025, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 joined UNITED24's Bring Light Back campaign, which raised $120,000 to equip Ukrainian schools with power generators. UNITED24, the state fundraising platform launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May 2022, has raised more than $3.5 billion from donors in over 140 countries.

Beyond civilian safety, demining strengthens firefighting and rescue teams and clears logistical routes for Ukraine's Security and Defense Forces, which are currently building fortifications in the area. Clearance work across the zone remains ongoing.

The campaign feeds a nationwide clearance effort of staggering scale as Ukrainian demining units cleared 923 hectares of liberated territory and neutralized 276 explosive hazards in July 2026 alone, spanning agricultural land, roads, and railway tracks.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022, military teams have rendered safe 482,698 explosive remnants of war. Nearly 23% of Ukraine's territory has been contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance, a hazard experts estimate will take at least a decade to clear.

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