Poker Writer
Members of the Ukrainian military will be banned from accessing gambling during the period of martial law under a new resolution. The decision was made in a collaboration between the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Defense with the stated goal of protecting military personnel from the dangers of gambling addiction.
There are also significant security risks associated with online gambling for troops and the access ban is meant to curtail that risk.
The ban will be an automatic one for any military member at the technical level. Once the military personnel logs in to a casino, the system will confirm that the person is on military service and block their access to the game.
Martial Law Targets Gambling
Ukraine has been under martial law since February 24, 2022, when the Russian invasion began. It gives the government additional powers that can bypass traditional law-making processes. That allows the quick implementation of new laws or restrictions.
Despite the war with Russia taking up most of the government’s focus, gambling has still been targeted by Ukrainian authorities. Crackdowns on illegal gambling have continued throughout the country as people have turned to gambling in a time of war.
Gambling has been a significant problem for soldiers since the start of the war as many turn to gambling as a distraction from the daily stresses of war. A psychologist at a Kharkiv rehabilitation center, Oleksandr Antiufeiev said in 2024:
Online gambling among soldiers is a huge problem. It’s a way to escape reality. … Every soldier who has served for a long time faces problems on the family front. When they receive a salary, they spend the next few days spending that money and losing it.
Slain Sergeant Started the Move Towards Gambling Ban
A sergeant in the army started a petition in 2024 to ban military members from gambling. It drew upwards of 25,000 signatures within a few hours to get the attention of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The sergeant who started the petition, Pavlo Petrychenko, was killed in combat only a couple of weeks after starting the petition in April of 2024.
Zelenskyy ordered stricter regulation of online casinos in response to the petition. The regulations gradually morphed over the last two years, with increasingly strict controls on gambling for more military members. And now it has grown into the ban that now exists.
