Ukraine developing new system to restrict soldiers' access to online gambling, ministry says

Ukraine is working on a system to limit military personnel's access to online gambling during martial law, the Digital Transformation Ministry announced on March 25.

Gambling has become a growing concern in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, as more soldiers develop addictions to online platforms and risk exposing personal data when registering on such websites.

The Ministry said that its goal is to protect military personnel and their families from the dangers and effects related to gambling addiction.

"We are continuing our systematic fight against gambling addiction," the ministry said, adding that new project is being developed in a collaboration with the Defense Ministry.

Users logging into online gambling platforms will be verified against registries of individuals barred from gambling, as well as military personnel. If a person appears in either registry, access to the game will be blocked, according to the ministry.

At the same time, the ministry said platform operators will not be informed whether a blocked user is a military service member and will not receive their personal data, a measure intended to prevent data leaks.

PlayCity, the state agency for the gambling market regulations, will be responsible for implementing this mechanism, the ministry added.

Fears over gambling addiction among Ukrainian soldiers have fueled public debate. In March 2024, a petition calling for restrictions on online gambling reached the President's Office.

The author of the petition, soldier Pavlo Petrychenko, was killed in combat in Donetsk Oblast on April 15, 2024, just days before President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree restricting online gambling and banning military personnel from participating while martial law remains in effect.

In February 2025, authorities detained the director of Pin-Up, a major Ukrainian online casino, over the company's alleged ties to Russia. Investigators found that its real owners were Russian nationals who collected personal data from users, including Ukrainian military personnel.

Gambling was banned in Ukraine in 2009 and remained illegal until its partial legalization in 2020.

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