According to a tweet posted to Danil "JoyStiCK" Gabov's account, the ex-Empire crew are reuniting with a familiar face -- Eugene "karzheka" Petrishin.
Nearly three months ago, four members of the Team Empire roster -- widely considered to be a top five Rainbow Six Siege team of all time -- were dropped following a loss to TSM FTX in the grand finals of the Six Invitational.
The timing of the news coupled with the budding Russian invasion of Ukraine made picking up Russian players a PR difficulty. What's more, it made it an actual difficulty -- many countries placed restrictions on Russian travel and more. Ex-Empire were all Russian. Karzheka is Estonian, according to Liquipedia.
Ex-Empire are Major and SI champions. They've competed deep in the playoffs of many Majors, and were one of Europe's most dominating teams of all time before they were dropped. Famously, Ex-Empire ended the G2 dynasty when they finally beat the mixed squad at the Six Major Raleigh in 2019.
There is no word on what competition ex-Empire will compete in. A formal announcement, either of an organization signing them, or a new team name, or what league they're competing is expected in the weeks to come.