Ukraine Blocks More Than 4,500 Illegal Online Casinos in 2024
Ukraine blocked over 4,500 illegal online casinos in 2024, according to the Ministry of Digital Transformation. This action aligns with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s directive to restrict gambling in the country. The ministry collaborated with Apple and Google to remove gambling applications, resulting in the removal of 92 apps from Apple’s App Store and 26 from Google’s Play Market. Additionally, the State Special Communications Service blocked 4,460 online casino websites accessed through other means.
Despite the legalization of gambling in Ukraine in 2020, illegal online casinos have remained a significant issue, exacerbated by the ongoing war. In April 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine estimated the annual turnover of online gambling to be around Hr.150 billion ($3.8 billion), equating to more than Hr.400 million ($10.1 million) daily. For comparison, total donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2023 amounted to approximately Hr.46 billion ($1.2 billion), a third of the gambling expenditure.
The prevalence of gambling addiction, particularly among military personnel, has become a concern. A military psychologist described this phenomenon as a stress relief coping mechanism in an in-depth Kyiv Post investigation in April 2024.
