Diana Panchenko

Diana Vitalievna Panchenko (Діана Віталіївна Панченко; born 21 May 1988) is a Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter.

Biography
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 channel) and NewsOne.

Following the outlawing of NewsOne late February 2021, Panchenko moved to its successor The First Independent TV Channel. This channel was shut down an hour after it launched. On 26 February 2021, she co-founded the Journalists' Defense Club movement. Diana was the host of the Slavonic Bazaar music festival, which took place in July 2021 in Vitebsk. After the event, Panchenko was summoned to the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council for explanations.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Panchenko fled Ukraine. She claimed that Ukraine had provoked Russia into a full-scale war and blamed the Ukrainian authorities for all the consequences of the war. While outside the country, Panchenko has continued hosting, including interviewing Aleksandr Lukashenko. In January 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) declared that it suspected her of producing and disseminating content justifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In October 2023, the SBU announced that it was carrying out a pre-trial investigation into Panchenko, suspecting her of high treason committed under martial law.