The Eurovision 2017 song contest is set to take place from May 11 to 13 in Ukraine, but the government have just confirmed that they have banned the Russian entry from entering the country.
27-year-old Julia Samoylova was all set to perform her country’s entry ‘Flame Is Burning’, when she discovered she would not be allowed into Ukraine to take part in the competition in person.
Clip via Eurovision Song Contest
A member of the Ukraine security service took the Facebook (see below) to make the announcement: “The Security Service of Ukraine banned from entering Ukraine citizen of the Russian Federation Julia Samoylova for three years. The decision was taken on the basis of the information on her violation of laws of Ukraine.”
It is illegal for anyone to enter Crimea through Russia without passing through Ukraine or receiving permission from the Ukrainian government, under Ukraine law, and with the above Facebook post, the Ukraine security service shared images of Julia Samoylova performing in Crimea.
Following a lot of back and forth between the European Broadcasting Union and Channel One/VGTRK Media (the folks who choose the Russian Eurovision entry), the EBU released a statement that said they were offering Samoylova the opportunity to perform for her country via satellite.
Channel One declined the offer, and stated that Samoylova would also represent Russia in the 2018 Eurovision contest, regardless of where the competition would be taking place.
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