On 29 March, Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Security Service of Ukraine, State Service for Special Communications, Ministry of Digital Transformation, and National Security and Defence Council to collect data on online casinos.
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On 29 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the heads of the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Service for Special Communications, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the National Security and Defence Council to collect the data on online casinos
President Volodymyr Zelensky tasked Ukrainian authorities to address the prevalence and impact of online gambling after a petition demanding restrictions passed the threshold for presidential consideration within a few hours on March 29.
A petition was registered on the website of the President's Office and has collected a total of 26,041 votes, with 25,000 being the required minimum.
The author of the petition, soldier Pavlo Petrychenko, asked to introduce a bill that would ban gambling and access to online casinos for military personnel during martial law.
The petition author stated that for many service personnel, gambling becomes the only way to cope with stress, quickly causing dopamine addiction and weakening self-control.
The soldier asked to ban gambling advertising using the symbols of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as any advertising mentioning charitable assistance to military personnel by gambling market participants.
According to the petition's author, Russian online casinos can access personal data of the military and other Ukrainians, which threatens national security.
Zelensky instructed the chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Special Communications Service, the Digital Transformation Ministry, and the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council to collect analytics and propose a solution next week.
Gambling has been officially banned in Ukraine since 2009 but became legal again in 2020.
In the first two months of 2024, the gambling business in Ukraine paid Hr 2.2 billion ($55.6 million) in taxes.
The gambling business paid Hr 10.4 billion ($263.291 million) for the whole of 2023.
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Extraction metadata
Extracted: 2026-02-20T11:54:14.651Z
Source story: 7451544