The carry for Virtus.pro's Dota 2 team, Ilya 'Kiritych' Ulyanov, expressed his gratitude after receiving several hundred supportive comments from fans on social media. He shared his appreciation in a post on Telegram, stating his thanks and mentioning that he was even moved to tears by the messages.
Earlier, caster Vladimir 'Maelstorm' Kuzminov had discussed the negative comments directed at professional players, contrasting them with Kiritych's handling of such criticism. Kuzminov also encouraged fans to send positive messages to the player on Telegram, suggesting they write, "Ilya, you are an incredible talent!" Following this, more than 200 comments appeared under Ulyanov's post on his Telegram channel.
On 28 July, Kiritych discussed how he copes with negative feedback from viewers. He admitted that it had once affected him and made him uncomfortable, but now he no longer cares about it.