Twitch is pursuing legal action against Russian streamer and former League pro Kirill Konstantinovich Malofeyev, seeking protection from his own lawsuit that ordered the company to pay more money than exists in the world following the streamer’s suspension from the platform due to US sanctions.
As per a Feb. 25 Polygon report, Twitch suspended the streamer, who happens to be the son of Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, in 2022 after the US imposed sanctions on the country as a response to its invasion of Ukraine in February that year. Malofeyev, a former League of Legends pro player also known as “Likkrit,” was caught in the sanctions due to ties to his father and his role in “a worldwide sanctions evasion and malign influence network,” the report states. Malofeyev countersued twice, the first one being thrown out by Russian courts and the second going through based on new Russian laws designed to counter the sanctions. Malofeyev ended up winning the suit, with the court ordering Twitch to pay 100,000 rubles per day that Malofeyev’s account remains suspended, doubling each week “without limit.”
The total number “purportedly is now larger than all the money in the world,” according to Twitch’s lawyers, who consider the fine “unjustified on any measure” and “wholly disproportionate to the less-than-
$2,000 in revenue generated by Malofeyev’s Account while active.”
In 2023, Malofeyev “filed a Turkish Enforcement Action to enforce the Russian ruling” to the Turkish branch of Amazon, though Twitch believes this is invalid as Malofeyev agreed to terms with Twitch, and not Amazon, despite the former being Amazon’s subsidiary. Twitch and Amazon are now seeking legal protection within the US justice system “to prevent the Russian judgment from taking hold and compel arbitration,” the report states.
Just yesterday, Feb. 24, marked the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a devastating conflict that still continues.
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