Ukraine police swoop on illegal online gambling operations

Police in Ukraine have carried out an anti-online gambling swoop, raiding 15 premises in Kiev and seizing over 100 computers along with other evidence reportedly linking the operations to Russian criminal groups.

Investigators identified a number of Russian-facing online casino websites associated with illegal Ukrainian activity, including eldoradoclub.com, vulkanclub.com, 24vulkan.com, slotvulkanclub.com, estcasino.com, greencasino.com, anonymcasino.com and pharaonclub.com.

Numerous Vulkan domains, allegedly licensed by Malta and Curacao, are listed on the Russian regulator Roskomnadzor black list.

Prosecutors and police have indicated that they have identified around 80 individuals associated with online gambling illegal activity, and that it appears that the ring leaders are Russians who have transferred their operations to the Ukraine following the gambling clampdowns in their own country (see previous reports).

Online gambling is illegal in Ukraine, and investigators report that the Vulkan sites include advice on how punters can disguise their internet location in order to circumvent regional bans.

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