ESIC has banned four Russian players for cheating and match manipulation, publishing full details on sanctions ranging from five years to a lifetime ban. The announcement, made on April 23, names Egor “zLy” Polyakov, Dimitriy “propleh” Senigov, Alexandr “Ruler” Maximov, and Peter “damiel” (formerly timeagento) Markheev. All four were found to have used prohibited cheating software, including DMA-based tools, and participated in match-fixing across multiple teams and competitions. The bans themselves were imposed in October 2025, but ESIC only now released a full public disclosure with charges and evidence details.

zLy Gets a Lifetime Ban for CS2 Match Manipulation

zLy is the only one who received a permanent ban. He formally admitted guilt and personally requested the lifetime sanction. His last recorded competitive appearance was with SEAW during the Asian Open Qualifier for ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024. That a player on a low-tier Asian roster was running DMA cheats and fixing matches at the same time tells you everything about the level of corruption ESIC is still pulling out of CS2’s lower brackets.

propleh, Ruler, and damiel Handed Five-Year Bans

The remaining three all received five-year bans running from October 2025 through October 2030.

propleh is the most recognizable name in the group. The 29-year-old had notable stints with Monolith, 1win, and NASR. He was also part of the Victory Zigzag roster that qualified for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023 but never played at the event after teammate joel was suspended by ESIC and coach Hardwell was banned by FACEIT for cheating. propleh never responded to ESIC’s charges, which under their protocols counts as a tacit admission of liability.

Ruler previously played alongside banned informant Erkhan “gokushima” Bagynanov on the HOTU roster, the same team where gokushima reportedly earned over $100,000 from match-fixing. Ruler partially acknowledged the allegations but failed to provide any substantive defense.

damiel effectively admitted guilt through what ESIC described as an unqualified response to his Notice of Charge. His last appearance was in 2025 with -72c.

The gokushima Thread

All four bans trace back to information provided by gokushima, who cooperated with ESIC as an informant. His original two-year match-fixing ban was reduced to 18 months and 13 days, ending in October 2025, in exchange for intelligence that ESIC says directly enabled enforcement actions against multiple individuals, including this quartet.

ESIC’s Busiest Month in Years

This is the third enforcement action ESIC has published in April 2026 alone. Earlier this month, former Inner Circle player nifee was hit with a four-year ban for match manipulation and betting-related corruption tied to prop-market abuse during ESL Pro League Season 22. Days before that, MAUschine received a lifetime ESIC ban after physically striking an opponent on stage at CAGGTUS Leipzig. DACH CS Masters and Fragster both escalated their initial 10-year suspensions to permanent bans following ESIC’s ruling.

Between DMA cheats, prop-market manipulation, and literal on-stage assaults, April 2026 is shaping up as ESIC’s most active enforcement window in years. The watchdog has now issued three separate rulings in under four weeks, signaling either a crackdown or simply the backlog catching up. Either way, the message to the lower tiers of CS2 is clear: the integrity commission is watching, and the bans are getting heavier.