Is playing at an online casino legal in Ukraine?
Ukraine legalised and licenses online casinos. Since the 2020 Gambling Act, an online casino can be licensed here, and playing at a licensed Ukrainian site is completely legal. The regulator changed in 2025, when the old commission was replaced by a new state agency, PlayCity, whose job includes shutting down unlicensed and Russian-linked operators. Every casino on this page is licensed offshore instead, which means it is not part of Ukraine's licensed market, and the state blocks unlicensed operators rather than protecting the players who use them.
| What | Status | The facts |
|---|
| Licensed Ukrainian online casinos |
Legal, licensed |
Online casinos, online poker and betting can all be licensed in Ukraine under the 2020 Gambling Act. A licensed site is regulated by PlayCity, runs on a Ukrainian domain, settles in hryvnia and verifies that you are 21 or older. |
| Offshore casinos (this page) |
Unlicensed in Ukraine |
The casinos here are licensed in Curacao, the Comoros or Anjouan, not by Ukraine. Playing at one is not a crime for you, but they sit outside Ukraine's licensed market: the state actively blocks unlicensed operators, no Ukrainian regulator hears your complaint, and none of the tax handling below is done for you. |
| Tax on winnings |
23% withheld at licensed sites only |
At a licensed Ukrainian casino your winnings are taxed at 18% personal income tax plus a 5% military levy, withheld automatically by the operator. An offshore casino withholds nothing, which does not make the winnings tax-free: it leaves you to declare them yourself. |
| Military personnel |
Banned during martial law |
A presidential decree of April 2024 bars serving military personnel from online casinos for the duration of martial law, after a soldier's petition drew national attention to gambling addiction in the ranks. |
| Advertising |
Near-total ban |
Since January 2025 gambling advertising is heavily restricted: television only between 11pm and 6am, nothing aimed at under-21s, and no ads involving military personnel, medics or volunteers. If you have seen almost no casino ads in Ukraine lately, this is why. |
| Site blocking |
Active against unlicensed sites |
Ukraine blocks unlicensed gambling sites, so an offshore casino you can reach today may be unreachable tomorrow. That is a practical reason to keep a withdrawal route ready rather than a balance sitting on the site. |
| Self-exclusion |
Register covers licensed sites only |
Ukraine's self-exclusion tools work through the licensed market and PlayCity. They have no reach over an offshore casino, so a self-exclusion set in the casino's own account settings is the only one that will hold there. |
Can you get in trouble for playing from Ukraine?
Not as a player. Ukrainian law puts the criminal liability on operators who run gambling without a licence, not on the people who play, and there is no history of players being prosecuted for using an offshore site. What you give up is protection, not liberty: an offshore casino is outside Ukraine's licensed market, so the state blocks these sites rather than standing behind them, no Ukrainian regulator will take up your complaint, and nothing about being offshore obliges a casino to pay you. There is a real, legal alternative: a PlayCity-licensed Ukrainian casino, which settles in hryvnia, handles your tax and answers to a regulator. Two exceptions matter. If you are serving in the military, online casinos are off limits during martial law. And whatever you play, our ratings rest on casinos we have cashed out from ourselves, because with an offshore site that is the only protection you actually have.
| Licensed Ukrainian sites (PlayCity) | Offshore sites (this page) |
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| Regulator | PlayCity, the Ukrainian state agency | Curacao, Comoros and Anjouan |
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| Access | Ukrainian domain, openly reachable | Unlicensed here, and subject to state blocking |
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| Currency | Hryvnia | Mostly US dollars, euros or crypto; a minority take hryvnia |
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| Tax on winnings | 18% + 5% withheld and reported for you | Nothing withheld; you must declare it yourself |
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| If a payout is refused | Complaint to PlayCity, whose rules bind the operator | The licence's own process, plus public escalation through us |
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| Self-exclusion | Works through the licensed market | Set casino by casino, in each account's settings |
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| Who may play | 21 or older, and not serving military during martial law | Each casino sets its own age; no Ukrainian protections apply |
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Ukraine licenses its own online casinos through PlayCity, so a licensed local site gives you hryvnia, automatic tax handling and a regulator to complain to. The offshore casinos on this page are not part of that market: playing at one is not a crime, but if you want the safer, licensed route, look there first, and treat this page as a caveated alternative rather than a recommendation.
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