Ukraine is preparing an automated system that will stop military personnel from accessing online gambling platforms during martial law. The Ministry of Digital Transformation said the tool is being developed with the Defense Ministry and will check login attempts against both the register of people barred from gambling and a database of service members. If the system finds a restriction, access will be blocked.
Operators will only receive a yes-or-no response. The ministry said they will not be told whether a blocked user is a soldier and will not receive any private or military-related information.
Login checks would move from policy to automatic enforcement
The planned system would give Ukraine a direct technical way to enforce limits that already exist on paper. Instead of relying only on self-reporting or later checks, gambling sites would have to screen users at the point of login. PlayCity, the state agency that regulates the gambling market, has been named as the body that will implement the mechanism.
In its announcement, the ministry said the aim is to protect service members and their families from gambling addiction during wartime. The ministry linked the project to its wider campaign against problem gambling.
The crackdown began after gambling among troops became a political issue
Ukraine started tightening gambling rules for the military in 2024, after public pressure over addiction among soldiers grew sharply. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree in April 2024 banning service members from online gambling during martial law, and the government later approved tighter limits on gambling advertising.
The issue had moved quickly into national politics. The Kyiv Independent reported that a petition on the problem reached the President’s Office in March 2024, and officials later tied the restrictions to concerns about addiction and the exposure of military personnel’s personal data.
PlayCity will add the system to a wider enforcement push
Ukraine is also using PlayCity to push harder against the illegal market. The ministry said the agency blocked more than 2,500 illegal online casino websites in 2025.
That means the new login system is not a standalone step. Ukraine is trying to tighten the legal market at the same time as it cuts off illegal operators, with military gambling now getting its own automatic control.
