Ukraine uncovers illegal online casino network with €97 million turnover
Ukrainian law enforcement has uncovered an illegal online casino network with a turnover exceeding UAH 5 billion (€97.3 million). According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the scheme was set up by two Russian nationals and the Ukrainian wife of one of them. Investigators say the network operated through affiliated IT companies, cryptocurrency payments, an Estonian company, and offshore structures.
Last year, PlayCity, Ukraine’s state regulator, launched a system for tracking illegal websites, aiming to permanently block illegal casinos in the country.
How the scheme worked
According to Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security, investigators found that 10 people were involved in the scheme: two Russian nationals and eight Ukrainian citizens. Through affiliated IT companies, the group operated at least five online casino websites. Some of the platforms may previously have operated legally, but after licences were revoked, the organisers, prosecutors claim, created new websites under the same brand names and continued operating illegally.
Ukrainian National News, citing its own sources, reports that the Russian nationals are Oleksii Riabov and Roman Belialov, and that the brands involved include Joker, Zaza (Zaza casino), Pokerdom, and Aurora (Aurora casino). The sites under these names allegedly continued operating after licences were revoked from 13 December 2022 to 25 May 2024. Official sources have not named the suspected individuals or the casino brands.
How payments were processed
The financial component is central to the case. Users paid for their gambling in cryptocurrency and stablecoins (USDT). According to Interfax Ukraine, funds first reached the accounts of a company registered in Estonia and were then transferred to affiliated offshore entities. After that, the money was converted into various currencies, moved between accounts, and used in financial operations intended to give it the appearance of legally obtained income.
Investigators believe this mechanism was used to launder assets exceeding UAH 5 billion (€97.3 million). This takes the case beyond the typical operation of unlicensed sites, pointing to potential circumvention of financial monitoring, cross-border flows through foreign companies, and the use of crypto infrastructure to service a shadow market.
What the suspects face
Participants in the scheme are suspected of offences committed as part of an organised group, as well as illegal activity related to organising and conducting gambling, under Part 3 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 203-2 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code. Three organisers also face an additional charge of laundering proceeds of crime under Part 3 of Article 209. This was reported on Facebook by Ukraine’s Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko.
The two Russian nationals were notified of suspicion in absentia, while the Ukrainian citizen was notified in person. The whereabouts of the other seven participants are being established.
PlayCity is tightening market oversight
Ukraine is steadily strengthening supervision of the licensed segment. In April 2026, PlayCity began testing the State system for online monitoring of operators. The platform is expected to automatically collect data on bets, refunds, and payouts, record each transaction with a unique identifier, and provide the tax authorities with direct access to calculate gross gambling revenue (GGR) and taxes. Licensed operators are gradually being brought into a digital monitoring framework, while illegal projects seek ways to bypass the law.
Last week, PlayCity announced cooperation with YouTube and said it has already secured the blocking of a channel and the removal of videos containing illegal casino advertising. The regulator is also targeting social media promotion. In January 2026, PlayCity moved to block around 80 TikTok accounts promoting unlicensed gambling and secured the removal of two Instagram profiles. This indicates that Ukrainian oversight is increasingly focusing on the promotion channels that help the shadow sector reach audiences.
Ukraine market context
According to Blask, as of 27 April 2026, Ukraine’s gambling market remains a strong industry. By Competitive Earning Baseline (CEB), an indicator of potential revenue in US dollars, the country ranks sixth in Europe.
In the market, the online casino segment leads by a wide margin on the Blask Index, a metric that reflects the volume of online interest in a category.
Blask surveys also indicate that most Ukrainian players learn about gambling products through advertising on the internet and social platforms, which helps explain why the regulator is tightening oversight of these channels.
What the investigation signals to the market
The investigation points to multiple vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s industry. It highlights:
- the possibility of casinos continuing operations after licence revocations,
- the use of cryptocurrencies to bypass payment controls,
- and the presence of foreign entities in the financial chain.
Despite remaining avenues for evasion, officials say they believe Ukraine is moving toward eliminating the illegal segment.
Unlicensed online casinos are shadow billions that evade the state, taxes, and are often used for money laundering. Every such ‘game’ will be brought to an end.
Ruslan Kravchenko, the Attorney General of Ukraine
The fight against illegal online casinos is no longer limited to isolated website blocks. It now represents a coordinated effort involving the regulator, security services, prosecutors, tax authorities, financial monitoring, and global platforms.
This article was first published in Russian on 27 April 2026.
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