A new controversy surrounding the Ukrainian national final has came into the public’s attention.

A new problem has been surfaced. Alina Pash – the winner of the show – is accused of entering Crimea after the 2014 Russian-Ukrainian events.

Since the controversy with Maruv back in 2019 – read more here -, when Ukraine withdrew from Eurovision, a new rule has been introduced in the national final. All Vidbir artists are not allowed to have performed in Russia since 2014 or had entered Crimea. According to activist and blogger Serhii Sternenko, Alina Pash entered Crimea in 2015 and alternate her papers in order to perform in Vidbir.

It was revealed that Alina Pash’s documents that provided to the broadcaster wasn’t issued by the State Guard. Moreover, there has been confirmed that a request to cross the border had been made by the artist. The results of the investigation will be provided to the broadcaster on February 16th at 10:00 CET.

Now, BBC reports that Alina has been suspended from the contest!

Source: bbc.com

What do you think about the development? What do you think about the national final? Let us know in the comments below!