Russia's Channel One refuses to broadcast Samoilova's performance via satellite

Channel One Russia has turned down a proposal by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to transmit performance of the Russian entry to the Eurovision 2017 song contest, Yuliya Samoilova via satellite from Moscow, said a statement issued by the Channel, TASS reports.

"We find the proposal on a remote-access participation [of the Russian singer] in the contest to be weird enough and do not accept it, as it clearly runs counter to the very essence of the event," it said.

"The broadcasting nation should ensure an opportunity for all the participants to obtain visas for the entire duration of the event," Channel One said adding that the denial of a Ukrainian entry visa to Samoilova signalled a crude violation of rules of the song contest.