Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the problem of online casinos during his latest speech. In his statement, he emphasized the need to strengthen control over the online gambling industry. According to the head of state, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Ministry of Digital Transformation and other well-known agencies are actively developing appropriate steps to control and regulate this industry.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared his readiness to implement measures in the field of control over the work of online casinos, which will allow protecting the interests of Ukrainians. The head of state stated this in his evening video address on April 2.
"I held a meeting with the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the State Special Communications Service, and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council regarding the situation with online casinos. The reports were meaningful. We are preparing appropriate steps that will add the necessary control over the industry and help protect the interests of society properly," Zelenskyy said.
Last week, the President of Ukraine responded to a petition from a serviceman to ban online casinos. In particular, he instructed the heads of the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Special Communications Service, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council to present all the analysis on this issue and propose a solution.
The problem with gambling addiction in the Armed Forces of Ukraine
On March 28, People's Deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko stated that the military, instead of investing their earned money in housing, loses it in casinos. He stated that allegedly 9 out of 10 Ukrainian defenders suffer from gambling addiction (ludomania). The commander of the 24th OSHB of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “Aidar” Stanislav Bunyatov denied that only “rear-line” military suffer from such problems due to boredom.
Pavlo Petrichenko, commander of the UAV unit in the 59th Special Forces Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, holds a different opinion, and he created a petition to the president. He stated that servicemen who have been away from their families for the third year, unable to rest properly and under constant stress, are psychologically vulnerable.
One of the Ukrainian defenders shared a story about online casino games on social media. According to him, the unit's chief sergeant got hooked on such games and first spent some of his salary, combat wages, and then all of his combat wages. In the end, he borrowed about half a million hryvnias from his comrades
