An interview of Janush Panchenko wo tells what it was like when Russia invaded Ukraine and what it was like when he decided to leave Ukraine.
Three decades after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Roma still remain outside the institutional memory, justice and reparations system, although, according to new findings, they were exposed to all forms of war crimes, from murders to expulsions and displacement, it was emphasized at the conference on the suffering of Roma in the period 1992-1995.
The conference was held in the building of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the title “Through Truth to Justice: Thirty Years of Silence on the Suffering of Roma in the Period 1992-1995”, within the project “Improving Roma Participation in Transitional Justice in BiH”, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom.
On March 10th, near the village of Patskanovo in the Uzhhorod district, a group of Roma blocked the road of a service vehicle and attacked military personnel with wooden sticks.
According to the police of the Zakarpattia region, the incident occurred during the notification of residents of the district about mobilization and verification of military registration documents. People deliberately blocked the movement of a military vehicle, after which they provoked a conflict.
An interesting article on Roma in Ukraine who are fighting for the country and generally onm their current situation in the country.
A reportage on Radio Romano about the situation of Roma in the Ukraine and about those who fled on the eve of the 5th year of the war.
The Swiss government has decided that a large part of Western Ukraine, including Lviv, are safe and that Ukrainian refugees from those regions can safely return home… It was announced right after Lviv was bombed.
This will affect quite a few refugees, and many Roma from Transcarpathian Ukraine.
Bad.
On August 15, 2025, a humanitarian action was held in the Roma settlement of the village of Domboky of the Velykyluchkivska community, aimed at supporting vulnerable families. The event was organized by the head of the charitable organization “SOS Children’s Villages Uzhgorod” Natalia Kryvoruchko with the participation of the Regional Coordinator for National Minorities from the OSCE Projects in Ukraine at the Representation of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights in the Transcarpathian region Mykola Chyzhmar.
It looks like a nice alibi exercise. Much more needs to be done.
Former KLA leader Hashim Thaci will begin his defense against charges of war crimes committed in Kosovo and Albania between 1995 and 1998 before the Special Tribunal in The Hague on September 9, the tribunal announced.
Alongside Thaci, Kadri Veselji, Redžep Seljimi, and Jakup Krasnići were charged with crimes against Albanians, declared “collaborators,” Serbs, and Roma, in more than 40 cases held by the KLA. All the defendants were leading members of the KLA Main Staff and the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of Kosovo.
Roma were victim of the war in Bosnia. They were victims of all sides in the conflict but this is still not really a topic to be discussed in Bosnia.
In a Roma settlement in Velykyi Berezne, in Transcarpathian Ukraine, right on the Slovak border, a confrontation between Ukrainian border guards and local Roma escalated. Background is not clear, but Roma threw stones at the border guards, and they fired live rounds. There are wounded, apparently on bth sides, although between stones and rifles, this can’t really be equitable.
All what we said all along about the dreadful situation of Roma in Transcarpathian Ukraine in a reportage in the Swiss press. Well, their history is not quite straight, as the existence of these camps goes back to the Ungarian domination of this region and to Maria-Theresia of Austria. And there, they still call it cigánytelep [Gypsy settlement] rather than the term tabor meaning a camp.
“One of Us. Roma and Sinti in the Resistance” is a podcast against anti-Gypsyism, proposed by the Carta di Roma Association and the Human Rights Foundation.
The document intended for students and addresses the issue of anti-Gypsyism to counter stereotypes that dehumanize an entire community and to remember the Roma and Sinti who fought for liberation from Nazi-fascism. “They did not fight for a homeland that discriminated against them,” explains Danilo De Biasio, author of the work, “they fought together with other Italians to bring back democracy.”
For once, quite a good article on Roma in Ukraine and specifically in Transcarpathia. While they obviously do not know the various Roma communities, (Servi, Xaladytka, Polska, Kirimlides, Ursaria, Kalderaša, Lovara, etc.) they know that they are different with different histories and issues.
Olena Vaidalovich, defender of Roma rights says that some Roma Don’t Admit Who They Are
In refugee shelters, Ukrainians of Roma origin were separated from other Ukrainians. Coordinators said they were trying to avoid tensions. “Better” Ukrainians had more comfortable conditions – beds, chairs. Where there were Roma, there might have been nothing. I saw children sleeping on cardboard boxes in winter.
An event in Marseilles to help a women organisation of Mukachevo in Transcarpathian Ukraine, who are trying to create a women’s house to better inform about contraception.
An interview with the coordinator of a facility for children in unfavourable situation who explains that they now have Roma and Ukrainians amongst their client, and that they had to deal with prejudice towards Roma.
An official of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic attempted to recruit researcher and Roma community leader Yanush Panchenko to work with the ethnic minorities and persuade them to participate and vote in the referendum. Under enormous pressure, he fled occupied Kakhovka.
25,000 Roma fled from Ukraine to Poland according to this article, which also states that “Most families were completely illiterate”… Both statements are definitively wrong. There are more Roma refugees, and many are well integrated.
Now four journalists and reporters have published a book describing their plight. “The War of Our Times” by Maria Kądzielska-Koper, Arleta Bojke, Michał Owerczuk and Tomasz Piechal is a collection of ten stories.
An editorial by Kamila Plachetkov, a Czech Romni who tries to understand why some Roma are spreading hatred against Ukrainians in Czechia. She says: “I have been watching with great concern how hatred in the Czech Republic, which for many years was directed primarily against Roma, is turning against Ukrainians. But what shocks me most is the fact that some Roma are also participating in this hatred.”
Roma who fled from Ukraine to Germany and the European Union after the Russian attack want to network better. In Göttingen, Roma representatives living in exile founded the association “Ukrainian Roma Advocacy Alliance” (Aura) on Tuesday. “Many Ukrainian Roma abroad do not even know what kind of help is available here,” said Aura board member Janush Panchenko. “We want to inform people about these offers and also advocate for the interests of the Ukrainian Roma in our host countries.” Projects in the areas of political education, culture, humanitarian and legal aid are also planned. In Germany, the association wants to work closely with the Society for Threatened Peoples, among others.
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