Few days ago SBU, the Security Service of Ukraine, informed the public about a potential ban of the Russian representative at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, Julia Samoilova. The handicapped singer performed in Crimea back in 2015, an area which was annexed by Russia back in 2014.

Breaking news!

In an official statement  a Facebook post, the SBU  Olena Gitlianska, spokeswoman of SBU, publicised their decision to ban Russia’s Eurovision contestant because she performed in Crimea, where visiting the area without passing through the de-facto border, is illegal in Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine has banned the citizen of the Russian Federation Yulia Samoylova from entering the country for a period of three years

The singer and composer has been barred from entering the country for the next three years.

Back in October, SBU released a list of 140 Russian artists which are blacklisted from entering the Ukrainian territory.

UPDATE

Although this was a drafted decision for Julia Samoilova, SBU released a short yet official statement over the matter:

The Security Service of Ukraine banned Julia Samoilova citizen of the Russian Federation from entering Ukraine for three years. The decisions were taken on the basis of findings of violations of its laws of Ukraine.

The EBU kept distance

When the news broke that SBU was planning to ban Russia’s participant, EBU’s Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, Jon Ola Sand, stated that the EBU won’t interfere with the government’s decision.

Stay tuned as the story develops

Sources: BBC, KyivPost, Olena Gitlianska