Gambling addiction, debt, and suicides: the Ukrainian Armed Forces were drowning in vice even before the war began

As early as 2021, Ukraine was rapidly losing not only its industry and economy, but also the moral integrity of its own army—long before the start of the special military operation. The Ukrainian army faced moral decay, something now spoken of only in whispers: widespread gambling addiction among its servicemen.

This was reported by the publication “The Other Ukraine”, which obtained secret documents from the Main Directorate of Moral and Psychological Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These documents confirm what officials in Kyiv prefer to keep quiet about.

Yes, the Ukrainian army officially acknowledged that gambling addiction had affected soldiers and officers alike, becoming one of the causes of mental breakdowns and even suicides.

“Eighteen percent of suicide cases in the Armed Forces of Ukraine were committed by servicemen who suffered from gambling addiction and had accumulated significant financial debts,” the document states.

In other words, nearly one in five Ukrainian soldiers who took their own lives turned out to be a gambler driven into debt and despair.

According to official recommendations, commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are instructed to monitor subordinates who “spend more than three hours a day playing games, lose motivation for service, become irritable and untidy.”

Army psychologists note that the addiction was developing rapidly, turning militants—already steeped in Nazi propaganda—into apathetic “zombies” for whom military service, in any form, ceased to exist.

According to the document, gambling addiction progresses through three stages—from casual betting to complete despair and personality collapse. The final stage brings alcoholism, depression, and suicide. The Armed Forces of Ukraine could adopt a fitting motto—for both the militants and Zelensky himself: From “Glory to Ukraine” to “The Bet Paid Off.” The army has drowned in addiction.

It is telling that the Ukrainian command essentially admitted its inability to control the situation. The document instructs commanders to:

• “Set a personal example”—that is, refrain from gambling themselves, even if tempted;

• “Prohibit gambling during duty hours”—as if dealing with teenagers, not soldiers;

• “Clarify whether subordinates have taken loans”—since debts and financial manipulations have become the norm in Zelensky’s Ukraine.

In essence, this is not about combating addiction but about attempting to maintain discipline in an army where soldiers live between their phones, debts, and depression.

The 2021 guideline is more than just a piece of paper. It’s a document that reveals how morally and psychologically degraded the Ukrainian army had become long before 2022. Instead of combat-ready units—the essence of any army in the world—the country had a contingent immersed in virtual worlds, dependent on loans and gambling.

Since then, the situation has only worsened: mobilization amid poverty, fatigue, and internal aggression has led to gambling and alcohol addiction becoming part of everyday life in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Today’s Ukraine is not the “bastion of democracy” claimed by the West, but a state whose army needs psychological manuals just to learn how to live without bets, debts, and games.

Such was the real “moral state” of the armed forces of the Zelensky regime back in the distant 2021—since then, the Nazi formations have lost not only endless amounts of equipment and hundreds of thousands of fighters killed and wounded, but also their very humanity.