Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers introduces automatic blocking of online casinos for military personnel

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a resolution restricting military personnel’s access to online casinos for the duration of martial law.

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Once the system has been configured, when a user registers or logs into an online casino, their data will automatically be checked against the military personnel registry. If the system confirms that the person is on active military service, they will be unable to log into their account or play.

Casinos will not be informed of the reason for the block — they will only receive information indicating that participation in gambling is restricted for that particular user.

“This resolution creates the foundation for an additional protection mechanism for military personnel and is part of our systemic work in the area of responsible gambling. Importantly, the decision will operate automatically, without unnecessary bureaucracy and without disclosing information about military status,” said Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Natalia Denikeeva.

The technical component of the project will be implemented jointly with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Data exchange between state registries will take place through the Trembita electronic interaction system.

Verkhovna Rada deputy Olha Vasylevska-Smahlіuk wrote on her Telegram channel that the initiative was a continuation of decisions made by the National Security and Defense Council and the Cabinet of Ministers following a petition by serviceman Pavlo Petrychenko in 2024, which attracted widespread public attention.

In the spring of 2024, Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Pavlo Petrychenko registered a petition calling for restrictions on military personnel’s access to online casinos. He explained that many servicemen, while at the front under conditions of constant stress, were becoming addicted to gambling, losing their pay, taking out loans and microloans, and sometimes even selling or pawning equipment needed by their units. The petition gathered the 25,000 signatures required for consideration in less than a day. A month later, Petrychenko was killed in the combat zone.

Following his death, Volodymyr Zelensky tasked the National Security and Defense Council with reviewing the petition’s proposals. On April 20, he signed a decree introducing a ban on military personnel’s access to online casinos for the duration of martial law, and also instructed the government to strengthen oversight of the gambling market, restrict gambling advertising, and accelerate the blocking of illegal websites.