Russia barred from Eurovision contest over Ukraine invasion

Russia will not be allowed toparticipate in the final of this year's Eurovision song contest,the organizer said on Friday, after Ukraine and several otherEuropean public broadcasters called for Russia to beexpelled.

"The decision reflects concern that, in the light of theunprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russianentry in this year's contest would bring the competition intodisrepute," the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in astatement.

Finland saidFriday it would not send contestants to thefinal if Russia was allowed to participate. Public broadcastersin Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Lithuania andNorway had also all urged the EBU to expel Russia.

Russian military forces on Thursday began an invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, prompting the imposition of economicsanctions by Western powers, as well as the withdrawal of majorinternational sporting events from Russia.

WATCH | Government officials worry Russia moving to overthrow Ukraine's government:

Government officials worry Russia moving to overthrow Ukraine's government

3 years ago

Duration 6:59

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is staying put in Kyiv, even as Russian troops close in. Lawmakers have been given assault rifles to help defend the country's parliament, if it comes to that.

The Eurovision final, one of the world's largest televisedevents, takes place in Turin, Italy, on May 14.

Russia, which had yet to put forward a contestant this year,has participated 23 times since its first appearance in 1994 andwon the contest in 2008.

The chairman of Ukraine's public broadcasting companySuspilne, Mykola Chernotytsky, wrote to the EBUto say that"Russia's participation, as an aggressor and violator ofinternational law, in this year's Eurovision undermines the veryidea of the competition."

He said Russia's state broadcaster was a "leading element ofthe Russian government's information war against Ukraine."

Russia was one of the favourites for the competition in2016. But Ukraine took the titlewhen Crimean Tatar Susana Jamaladinova,knownas Jamala, unexpectedly won with a song about Soviet leaderJoseph Stalin's deportation of hundreds of thousands of peoplefrom her Black Sea homeland, two years after Russia annexed theterritory.

The following year, as host of the finals, Ukraine barredRussia's entry from entering. This year,Ukraine will be represented by Kalush Orchestra, which organizers describe as a "hip-hop band with a fondness for folk."