page_title: Russia–Ukraine relations in the Eurovision Song Contest
section_title: 2019 contest
hierarchical_section_title: Russia–Ukraine relations in the Eurovision Song Contest / 2019 contest
caption_attribution_description: English: MARUV, a Ukrainian singer, composer, poet and producer.
context_page_description: Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, a pan-European music competition, since 1994, while Ukraine has participated since 2003. Russia and Ukraine have had positive relations, and have exchanged the top-3 points with each other several times over the years. Barring a minor dispute over Ukraine's 2007 entry "Dancing Lasha Tumbai", notable conflicts began to emerge between the two countries at Eurovision in the wake of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
  In 2016, Ukraine's entry was "1944", a song by Jamala that was inspired by her great-grandmother's experiences during the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union. The song was criticised by Russian officials, who argued that it violated Eurovision rules against political content due to its allusions to the Crimean crisis. "1944" would ultimately win the contest. While there were calls for Russia to boycott the Ukraine-hosted 2017 contest over the ongoing conflicts in Eastern Ukraine, Russia did unveil an entrant—Yuliya Samoylova.
context_section_description: Controversy emerged during the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 regarding contestants' ties to Russia. During the final of the competition on 23 February 2019, jury members Jamala, Andriy Danylko, and Yevhen Filatov interrogated several of the contestants regarding their thoughts on Russia, focusing mainly on Maruv and Anna Maria. Jamala asked Maruv whether Maruv believed Crimea was Ukrainian territory, to which Maruv agreed. Anna Maria were asked, if they had to choose between the two, would they choose their country of Ukraine or their mother, who worked for the Russian-led government of Crimea. During the final, it was announced by the Ukrainian broadcaster, UA:PBC, that the broadcaster had reserved the right to change the decision made by the jury and Ukrainian public.
  After Maruv was declared the winner of the competition, it was confirmed she was not yet confirmed as the Ukrainian representative, and discussions would take place between Maruv and the Ukrainian broadcaster. It emerged that Maruv's representative was sent a contract which she had a 48 hour deadline to sign in order to represent Ukraine. A major feature of the contract was that she must cancel all upcoming performances and appearances in Russia within 24 hours. Maruv later revealed that the broadcaster's contract had additionally banned her from improvising on stage and communicating with any journalist without the permission of the broadcaster, and required her to fully comply with any requests from the broadcaster. If she were to not follow any of these clauses, she would be fined ₴2 million (~€67,000). Maruv also stated that the broadcaster would not give her any financial compensation for the competition and would not pay for the trip to Tel Aviv.
  On 25 February, both Maruv and the broadcaster confirmed that she would not represent Ukraine in Israel due to disputes over the contract, and that another act would be chosen. Viktor Taran, a board member for UA:PBC, later revealed that Maruv refused to cancel her concerts in Russia which led to her refusal to sign the contract. Taran also alleged that Maruv and her lawyers did not believe she was responsible for representing the views of the Ukrainian government while at the Eurovision Song Contest.
  National final runner-up Freedom Jazz announced on 26 February that they had rejected the broadcaster's offer to represent Ukraine as well, with third place finisher Kazka confirming they had also rejected the offer the following day. On 27 February, UA:PBC confirmed that Ukraine would withdraw from the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest following the controversy. In their withdrawal statement, the broadcaster stated that the national selection "has drawn attention to a systemic problem with the music industry in Ukraine – the connection of artists with an aggressor state".
caption: Maruv, Ukraine's selected artist for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, who attracted controversy in the country due to her willingness to perform concerts in Russia.
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