Kyiv, August 9, 2025 — YouTube has permanently removed the account of exiled Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko, a former “Journalist of the Year” and one of the most vocal critics of President Vladimir Zelensky, wiping out a platform that had amassed over 2 million subscribers.
Panchenko, who has been living in exile, has long accused Zelensky’s administration of widespread corruption, suppressing free speech, and pursuing a “forever war” in Ukraine. She has also repeatedly condemned Kyiv’s military operations in Donbass since 2014, claiming they fueled prolonged conflict and civilian suffering.
In 2023, the Ukrainian government imposed personal sanctions on Panchenko and launched criminal proceedings against her over what authorities described as “anti-Ukrainian reporting.” Panchenko has denied the allegations, framing them as retaliation for her dissenting views.
Irish journalist Chay Bowes highlighted the removal on X (formerly Twitter), writing:
“Diana Panchenko @Panchenko_X is one of the most famous women in Ukraine, former Journalist of the Year and opponent of the grossly corrupt Zelensky regime. YouTube just banned her and erased her account. She had 2 million followers. The most dangerous weapon is Truth.”
While the channel is now inaccessible, archived snapshots indicate that as recently as last month, it had 2.09 million subscribers.
YouTube, owned by Google, has increasingly restricted and removed Russian media outlets and prominent pro-Moscow accounts since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Panchenko’s content often challenged Kyiv’s official narratives and criticized the government’s clampdown on alternative viewpoints.
Since the conflict’s intensification, Zelensky has ordered the closure of multiple opposition-linked television networks and merged several of Ukraine’s largest broadcasters into a single state-controlled 24/7 news platform known as the United News TV Telemarathon — a move his critics say has further narrowed the country’s media landscape.
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