Ukraine will not take part in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, after the singer selected to represent the country dropped out following a row over Russia. Singer Maruv won a public vote but said she would not participate because the Ukrainian national broadcaster had imposed conditions including a ban on concerts in Russia. “The National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA PBC) is declining to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019,” the broadcaster said in a statement on Wednesday. National broadcaster UA PBC earlier accused Maruv, whose real name is Anna Korsun, of failing to understand her role as an ambassador who should represent Ukrainian public opinion. The previous year Ukraine infuriated Russia with its own entry – a ballad about the Soviet deportation of Crimea’s indigenous Tatar population under Joseph Stalin.

Source: The Guardian February 27, 2019 18:33 UTC