Aug. 11—The prominent Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko, a critic of both the 2014 coup in Kiev, and the war policy of NATO dictator Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had, as of July 2025, over 2 million subscribers to her YouTube account. However, as of Aug. 8, YouTube has now shut it down.

A former Journalist of the Year, Panchenko was a presenter on a Kiyv TV channel beginning in 2010 and on “NewsOne” TV in 2015. The latter was associated with Victor Medvedchuk, head of the “For Life” party. She’s hosted several shows since then, and was very well-known in Ukraine. Zelenskyy then imposed sanctions on Taras Kozak, the owner of NewsOne, and other media outlets. Panchenko then co-founded the Journalists’ Protection Club movement. In 2022, she interviewed people in Mariupol and a captured Azov defender Mykhailo Shvets, for her video “From Kyiv to Donbass.” In late 2022, she left Kiev for Donetsk.

She is listed on the infamous Myrotvorets list as an “Anti-Ukrainian propagandist.” They note that: “Comprehensive measures are underway to bring the defendant to justice for crimes against Ukraine” and that her “Liquidation date” has not been filled in. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council placed her under sanctions in January 2023. The NSDC’s “Center for Countering Disinformation” listed her on its March 2024 report for the crime of “spreading hostile disinformation on TikTok.”

YouTube’s action, shutting out her 2 million subscribers, can only raise concerns regarding Panchenko’s security.