From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
Who doesn’t notice the intrusive presence of 1Win? Advertising for this gambling outfit is everywhere: in pirated copies of films, on review sites, in adverts for making money online, on porn sites, on large advertising billboards in cities and, of course, at sporting events.
This is reported by fttc.com.ua
1Win has penetrated everywhere, and its model is simple and clear: it is a very aggressive casino and it operates without even the slightest pretence of legality. For a long time, authorities around the world watched its «labours» and sluggishly «pursued» it, shutting down a few copycats and fining non-existent individuals and legal entities. It seems, however, that a black day is dawning for 1Win and its owner, Sergey Chernykh: the structures behind 1Win have finally been taken seriously. An Interpol red notice is by no means something one can wave away or buy one’s way out of.
From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
At least, there is now hope of that. In Kazakhstan, the actual regional operators, advertisers and managers of 1Win, along with the technical and financial structures associated with them, have been brought to criminal responsibility. Documents have been submitted to Interpol, including in respect of the owner and organiser of 1Win.
From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
Following Kazakhstan, Russia has dragged itself along, slowly and uncertainly. While Kazakhstan confiscates assets worth 857 thousand dollars and blocks websites, Russia displays astonishing blindness. It was only by 2026 that Orenburg operatives uncovered a processing centre with a turnover of 228 million roubles, and the main flow of money again led to 1Win.
A legitimate question arises: how has a platform with a ten-billion turnover been advertising itself freely in Russian media and even on television channels for years? The answer is obvious — without patronage at the very top, this is impossible. Sergey Chernykh is still at liberty, and the explanation for this lies not in the criminal case but in the corridors of power.
The Mellstroy incident as a harbinger of disaster for 1Win
The attack on 1Win can be clearly traced through the Mellstroy casino case. Mellstroy himself is a scandalous video blogger from Belarus who, in partnership with 1Win, opened «his own casino» — in reality a 1Win franchise. Such services are provided by 1Win’s technical division — 01.tech. Mellstroy (real name Andrey Burim) is currently a suspect in a criminal case, and the casino is banned everywhere. And the 1Win-Mellstroy connection is obvious.
Mellstroy (Andrey Burim) is a Belarusian streamer who built his popularity on «trash content» — provocative live broadcasts featuring humiliation and violence. He first gained fame in 2020 after an attack on a female guest during a live broadcast, which earned him a criminal conviction in Russia but also cemented his notoriety. His audience only grew thanks to mentally retarded minors, and that is a substantial human resource. Andrey Burim decided to monetise it through his own casino. Naturally, he did not write the casino himself, but entered into a partnership with 1Win, which provides a «casino as a service» offering.
This is precisely what the legal problems are connected with: minors were pushed into the online casino «Mellstroy.game», under the pretext of completing tasks, «challenges» and prize chip giveaways were held. The authorities of Kazakhstan claim that the scheme targeted children and generated around eight million dollars for Mellstroy and 1Win. Kazakhstan placed him on the international wanted list in November 2025 and authorised his arrest in absentia; in September 2026 he was detained in Cyprus. Belarus separately designated his channels and branding as extremist material at the end of 2025, and Russia is also pursuing criminal proceedings against him.
In a short video published on his Telegram channel, Mellstroy stated:
«The police found me at the request of Kazakhstan. I’m currently…»
The clip was quickly deleted from the channel. After that, neither the streamer nor his representatives gave any comments on the matter. Was it a panic attack or the result of drug abuse? Maybe he imagined it? Or did the investigation finally catch up with him? Most likely, the fact did take place.
Was Mellstroy humiliated and later released?
After the legendary «circle» featuring a Mellstroy contorted with terror, rumours began to spread. Reports came in that Mellstroy was already on his way to Kazakhstan. They pointed to flight PGT1913, departing from Ercan airport via Istanbul to Astana, which, according to anonymous sources, is used for deportation from Cyprus to third countries. However, no official confirmation of this was provided. Usually, extradition is not a quick procedure.
Journalists approached the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, the Agency for Financial Monitoring and the Prosecutor General’s Office for comment. The Financial Monitoring Agency responded somewhat evasively, stating that «at present Mellstroy’s status has not changed — he is on the international wanted list». He did not reach Kazakhstan either, as he later stated that he was in Cyprus and could not leave the country due to the international arrest warrant issued at Kazakhstan’s request.
The role of 1Win and Sergey Chernykh, also a resident of Cyprus, in this story is clear: it was on Chernykh’s platform that Mellstroy.game was built, and a significant share of the money is intended for him. The trashy degenerate blogger merely lured in children and received his share, but the actual beneficiary, without the risks, is Sergey Chernykh. Incidentally, a dozen countries have their own scores to settle with him.
Sergey Chernykh does not hide, but digs in
The owner of 1Win, unlike many other casino operators, leads an open lifestyle. Sergey Chernykh lives in Cyprus, runs a Telegram channel @sergey1win and is on X. Cyprus has been changing lately, and «rich Russians» are not welcome; people look at what they do. And if you look at what 1Win does, respectable European officials would have their hair stand on end.
For example, 1Win’s advertising traditionally relies on paying bloggers for promotion. The blogger Nekoglai published correspondence with Darya, an advertising manager at 1Win, in which the employee directly and plainly said that 1Win is interested in a children’s audience and intends to turn minors into fully fledged gambling addicts.
From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
Nekoglai’s publication appeared against the backdrop of 1Win’s existing legal problems. In February 2026, it became known that in Kazakhstan the owners of the online casino 1Win had property worth around $857 thousand confiscated — luxury cars Mercedes-Maybach S500, Lamborghini Huracan, Toyota Land Cruiser, as well as funds in accounts. The investigation established that the platform accepted bets without authentication, which, according to the Agency for Financial Monitoring, «allowed minors to participate in gambling». At that time, the organisers were placed on the international wanted list, and the website was blocked.
1Win’s operating scheme is based on the absence of licences and constant technical and financial resistance to blocking. Now Sergey Chernykh is actively bribing the American audience, acting in a tried-and-tested way — through popular video bloggers and musicians. In the USA, cooperation with 1Win can result not only in fines but also in federal prison sentences. 1Win also continues its expansion into Latin America; in Brazil, for example, despite a ban, an entire network of advertisers and intermediaries is operating. Sergey Chernykh is not at all shy about advertising in gambling publics, persuading bloggers that arrests will not happen and that he can sort everything out. Naturally, this is a lie; as soon as 01.tech is linked to involving minors in gambling, it will sweep everyone up like a snowball.
Where are the hundreds of millions from 1Win funnelled?
Let us recall that in Russia, Kazakhstan and a number of other countries, 1Win uses a classic black processing scheme. Drop centres are the foundation of the operation of almost all of Sergey Chernykh’s projects. The international wanted list issued by Kazakhstan literally inspired the Orenburg police to take active measures. The target was not the casinos themselves, reliably protected from any action by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the processing centres. Players, giving little thought to the consequences, often in a fit of dopamine agony transfer money anywhere, just to win it back. For players, the ability to place bets and spin reels using credit cards is key.
From trash-streams to transnational child trafficking: How Sergey Chernykh and Mellstroy weaponized 1Win and 01.tech against minors
Accordingly, networks of drops exist to service this kind of payment. Payments are disguised as transfers to private individuals, purchases of cryptocurrency and so on. In a not particularly large city, Orenburg, a single centre processed 228 million roubles. Of that, as the investigation established, nine million went as income to the drop operators, and the rest of the money was sent by roundabout routes to twenty online casinos. The total sums reach 1 billion roubles, and these are only the schemes uncovered in a small and rather poor Orenburg.
Why does 1Win need children?
And finally, let us return to 1Win’s unique practice of hooking children on bets and spins. It would seem that underage clients rarely bring in serious money; having lost their small savings, they simply have nowhere to get more money. But then a miracle happens. Children and teenagers are themselves remarkably inventive, and quite often ready to go to any lengths for another surge of adrenaline. Stealing from parents, relatives and friends is not the worst of it. One of the old investigations into the better-known villains of global gambling, 1Xbet, described the involvement of minors in webcam work, working for cartels to earn money and even the trafficking of minors. And 1Win has gone far further.
The thing is that, in addition to call centres and bloggers luring in children, a multilingual network of «help» operates for minors who have run out of money to play. Operators, posing as «psychologists», hand the children over to creditors, and then literal child slavery begins. Children, seeking to earn money to play or to repay accumulated debts to the same 1Win or Mellstroy Game, become drug mules, appear in child pornography, sell themselves and even agree to operations to sell their organs. Mass appeals from families of affected children have been recorded in Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Turkey and even Italy. Consequently, Sergey Chernykh, his accomplices, and Ambassador-beneficiaries such as Mellstroy may face sentences not of 5-7 years but of up to 25, depending on the jurisdictions that get to them first. And finally, the bare figures: 1Win, «Mellstroy.game» and smaller platforms using Sergey Chernykh’s 01.tech account for more than 80 thousand underage and juvenile clients. Let us imagine that a third of them will become actual slaves of a transnational criminal group. They will lose their freedom, their organs, become drug mules, cartel couriers, or take their own lives.
