Diana Panchenko

Diana Vitalievna Panchenko (Діана Віталіївна Панченко; born 21 May 1988) is a pro-Russian Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter. In 2010, Panchenko graduated from the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in publishing and editing, and in 2018, she graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in law. Worked in Gazeta.ua, Kyiv TV and NewsOne. In 2021, she was nominated for the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. In 2020 and 2021 Panchenko vented her pro-Russian positions frequently on Ukrainian TV. Following the outlawing of NewsOne late February 2021 she moved to its successor The First Independent TV Channel. This channel was shut down an hour after it launched. (Meanwhile the channel's live stream was not blocked by YouTube.) Following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Panchenko fled Ukraine. She claimed that Ukraine had provoked Russia into a full-scale war. Panchenko blamed the Ukrainian authorities for all the consequences of the war. She compared President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy election as Time Person of the Year with giving this honour to Hitler and Stalin. And alleged thefts of Western aid. In 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) launched a pre-trial investigation into Panchenko due to her trip to Russian occupied Donetsk and Mariupol to film (according to the SBU) a "propaganda report". Personal sanctions were also imposed on her by presidential decree .