Dev.ua - Justice for Journalists

Affiliated media: Online media "Dev.ua", Online media outlet

Incident date: August 8, 2025

Attack type:

  • Fines and other restrictions following administrative offences

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Online media "Dev.ua"

Location: Ukraine, Kyiv Oblast, Kyiv

Additional information:

The State Agency for Control of Gambling and Lottery Business, PlayCity, has issued a fine to Dev Ukraine LLC (dev.ua) for allegedly violating advertising legislation. The fine amounts to UAH 4.8 million (€82,000). The sanction stems from a news article about a boxing match between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, that mentions the name of the official sponsor, a bookmaker's brand. The dev.ua editorial team maintains that simply mentioning a bookmaker in a news announcement does not constitute a violation of the Law on Advertising and has described the fine as an act of pressure on the media. Dev.ua lodged an appeal on 6 October with the Kyiv Administrative Court, but no action has yet been taken, which could result in Dev.ua's accounts being frozen on 8 November for failing to pay the fine within the specified deadline.

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