According to local reports, the Ukrainian winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is on Russia’s wanted list.
Independent Russian news site Mediazona, which has frequently reported news on the list, reported yesterday that the Interior Ministry had banned Jamala, whose real name is Susana Jamaladinova.
It is alleged that Jamala spread false news about the Russian army. According to the report, she was arrested in absentia by a Russian court earlier this month. The BBC reported that she left Ukraine after the invasion and is now in Australia.
Jamala is of Crimean Tatar descent and won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest with her song “1944” about the deportation of her people by Joseph Stalin. Since then, he has been a judge on Vidbir, the Ukrainian national selection for Eurovision, and is an outspoken critic of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Jamala is the second Ukrainian winner in recent years. Last year, the rap group Kalush Orchestra followed suit, and due to the ongoing war, the next Eurovision had to be organized in Great Britain.
Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, Russia has placed huge groups of people on the wanted list and banned several dozen people from entering the country.
