YouTube deletes major pro-Russian propaganda channel
YouTube has removed the channel of pro-Russian propagandist Diana Panchenko, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) announced on Aug. 13.
“Congratulations to propagandist Diana Panchenko on losing her YouTube channel,” NSDC’s Center for Countering Disinformation said in a statement, describing Panchenko as a “Kremlin mouthpiece.”
The center added that any new channels Panchenko creates will eventually be blocked in Ukraine and that, given her “destructive activity,” they will be shut down altogether.
Panchenko’s channel was first blocked in Ukraine in April 2024 but remained available elsewhere until this month. Her TikTok account was also blocked in Ukraine last year. According to Reporters Without Borders, the YouTube channel boasted more than 1.8 million subscribers as of September 2024.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Panchenko moved to Russia and continued producing content. In January 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) accused her of justifying for Russia’s armed aggression. In October 2023, the SBU added treason charges, and in December she was placed under sanctions by the NSDC.
The SBU opened a formal investigation on Jan. 4, 2024, after Panchenko published what it called a “interview” with Ukrainian soldiers Serhiy Mironenko and Mikhailo Shvets, who were held captive by Russian forces. She has also published interviews with Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus.
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