Yanush Panchenko is a Ukrainian researcher of Romani origin. He specializes in the culture, history, and language of the Roma, with a focus on nomadic ways of life in the 20th century, and traditional culture and dialects in Ukraine and southern Russia. Yanush’s research includes studying the impact of the Russian invasion on Romani culture in Ukraine, the migration and adaptation of Ukrainian Roma in European countries amidst wartime conditions and considers Roma’s potential status as an indigenous people of Ukraine. Currently, he is working on his Ph.D. dissertation at Zaporizhzhia National University (Ukraine). Yanush is proficient in four dialects of the Romani language: Vlaxurʼa, Servur’a, Crimean-Romani dialect, and the dialect of Ruska Roma.

In addition to his academic activities, he is involved in public activities and informal education of Romani youth. He is the founder of “Romano Than,”the first Romani youth centre in Ukraine and the post-Soviet space. However, the centre was hacked and looted by Russian soldiers in the Russian invasion. Furthermore, Yanush currently works at the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation as an expert and monitor for the OSCE initiative “Monitoring the Human Rights Situation of Roma People Affected by the Armed Conflict in Ukraine”.