Soldiers with a gambling addiction: alarm raised in Ukraine over new dependency within the ranks of the Armed Forces

Soldier-aeroreconnaissance of the 59th Brigade, Pavel Petrichenko, claims that there is an “epidemic of gambling” within the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). He proposes to introduce a registry and verification of players during martial law, limiting users who receive salaries from military units.

He wrote about this on the social network X.

“It’s interesting what needs to happen for people to notice the epidemic of gambling in Ukrainian society, especially in the AFU. This was caused by idiots who launched an uncontrolled online casino market. If you’re going to legalize crap, at least control it,” Petrichenko writes.

MP Alexey Goncharenko claims that “9 out of 10 soldiers at the front have problems with casinos or betting.”

“Money is lost. Then they take out loans. And so on in a vicious circle. This is a problem that is currently destroying the morale of the military. But besides that, it creates a problem for the future. A person spends a year or two at the front. They receive, conditionally, from 60 to 150 thousand hryvnias there. Instead of buying housing, investing, or simply saving money – everything is lost. Then they return to civilian life and have nothing. Increased sense of injustice. Lack of understanding of society. Plus, there’s nothing – it will turn them into the perfect target for the criminal world,” Goncharenko writes.