Los Iankovers
The Latin American Band Bringing Ukrainian Music to the World
Music often connects different cultures, but Los Iankovers (Лос Янковерс) stand out for how they do it. Starting in Bogotá, Colombia, the group mixes Latin American rhythms with traditional and patriotic Ukrainian songs.
Ianko Bohdan Peñafort Lobunets of Los Iankovers performing a traditional Ukrainian wedding song.Members of the band pictured above, from left to right: Isamar Fernández (cellist), Ianko Bohdan Peñafort Lobunets (band lead and multi-instrumentalist), Juan David Carrión (saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist) and Nicolás Canas (guitarist).
Lead singer Ianko Bohdan Peñafort Lobunets started Los Iankovers in 2017 with musicians from Colombia and Venezuela. Ianko’s mother is from Kyiv and his father is Colombian. Growing up in Colombia, Ianko wanted to connect with his Ukrainian roots, especially after the events in Ukraine in 2014. He learned Ukrainian on his own and explored traditional folk and rebel songs. This personal journey soon became a musical project that blends Ukrainian folk melodies with Latin American acoustic sounds.
What Is Chatroulette?
To see how Los Iankovers gained so many online fans, it’s helpful to know about Chatroulette.
Chatroulette, which started in 2009, is an online video chat site that randomly connects people from all over the world for one-on-one webcam chats. Users can talk, text, or stream video with a stranger, or click “next” to meet someone new. Over time, musicians and creators have used it to perform live for random audiences and record their real-time reactions.
Taking Ukrainian Culture to Random Strangers Online
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Los Iankovers started using Chatroulette to share Ukrainian culture and support the country. Often wearing traditional embroidered shirts called vyshyvankas, the band joins random video chats to play live acoustic versions of well-known Ukrainian folk and patriotic songs.
Their video compilations usually fit into two main types:
1. Surprising Global Audiences and the Ukrainian Diaspora
When they meet people from Western Europe, North America, or Latin America, the band often surprises them by singing fluently in Ukrainian.
When they connect with Ukrainians, including soldiers and people who have left their homes, the moments are often emotional and bring a sense of unity and pride.
Los Iankovers perform a Zakarpattia folk song to a Zakarpattian in Ukraine.
2. Confronting Russian Users on Chatroulette
One of the main features on their YouTube channel is compilations of the band meeting Russian users by chance. They play songs like “Ой, у лузі червона калина” (Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow), the National Anthem of Ukraine, and historical rebel songs, recording how people react in the moment.
These meetings can lead to anything from surprise and confusion to intense debates, showing a clear difference between celebrating culture and facing political conflict.
Compilations of the band meeting Russian users by chance.
Watch how a Georgian woman reacts to Los Iankovers performing the well known Georgian folk song “Suliko”. The band’s performance moves her to tears in this poignant moment, which starts at time stamp 7:36 in the video.
You can watch this video from the beginning by rewinding it to the start.
A Georgian woman reacts to Los Iankovers performing the well known Georgian folk song “Suliko”.
Suliko. Lyrics in Georgian (first verse)
საყვარლის საფლავს ვეძებდი,
ვერ ვნახე!.. დაკარგულიყო!..
გულამოსკვნილი ვტიროდი
„სადა ხარ, ჩემო სულიკო?!“
Suliko. Lyrics in English (first verse)
I was looking for my sweetheart’s grave,
And longing was tearing my heart.
Without love my heart felt heavy, I cried to the night –
“Where are you, my Suliko?”
Tours and Connecting Across The globe
Los Iankovers don’t just share their music online. They have also toured in over ten European countries, plus Canada and Ukraine, playing live shows and raising funds for Ukraine. By mixing their online performances on Chatroulette with live tours, they keep bringing Ukrainian culture to people who might not see it otherwise.
To see their live Chatroulette performances and musical style, check out Los iankovers playing Ukrainian songs on Chatroulette via their YouTube channel.
Further Watching: Los Iankovers’ other social media accounts
Facebook Page and Instagram account
A Note on Repertoire and Historical Context
While Los Iankovers’ high-energy fusion of Latin American rhythms and Ukrainian folk has won them widespread admiration, some of their songs, most notably “Батько наш Бандера” (Our Father is Bandera), touch on complex historical memory. As a Polish observer, referencing Stepan Bandera inevitably brings to mind the painful history of the UPA and the Volhynia massacres. However, for modern Ukrainians resisting Russian aggression, the song functions purely as a symbol of anti-Russian independence rather than an alignment with 1940s nationalist ideology. It is this modern, defiant spirit that the band captures in their performances.
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