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| Eurovision Samoilova: Ukraine bars Russian singer over Crimea visit | Eurovision Samoilova: Ukraine bars Russian singer over Crimea visit |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ukraine has barred Russia's Eurovision contestant because she performed in Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014. | Ukraine has barred Russia's Eurovision contestant because she performed in Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014. |
| Julia Samoilova was banned from attending the event because of her "illegal" visit , the Ukrainian SBU security service said. | Julia Samoilova was banned from attending the event because of her "illegal" visit , the Ukrainian SBU security service said. |
| Samoilova, 27, has confirmed that she sang in Crimea in 2015. Ukraine is due to host Eurovision in Kiev, in May. | |
| A Russian foreign ministry source told Ria-Novosti news agency the decision was "cynical and inhuman". | |
| It quoted a senior Russian politician, Frants Klintsevich, as saying Russia would boycott future Eurovision contests if the organisers failed to stand up for the singer. | |
| The SBU has blacklisted at least 140 other Russian artists. | The SBU has blacklisted at least 140 other Russian artists. |
| Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads since the annexation of Crimea and subsequent fighting in east Ukraine, which Moscow is accused of stoking. | |
| Who is Julia Samoilova? | |
| Ukraine is hosting the competition after its singer, Jamala, caused an upset by winning in Sweden last year. | |
| Her song, 1944, was about Joseph Stalin's mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars during World War Two. | |
| The SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) said earlier it would verify information about Samoilova's visit to Crimea and take a decision. |