Ukraine bans Russian contestant from Kiev-held Eurovision Song Contest

Ukraine has banned Russia's entry from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest - as political tension between the countries boils over into TV.

Russia's 27-year-old singer Yulia Samoylova will not be allowed to perform in the contest, to be held in Ukraine's capital Kiev, in mid May.

The ban by the eastern European country comes after it emerged that Samoylova had toured Russia-annexed Crimea, a source of fighting between separatist and Ukranian forces.

Samoylova entered Crimea by going through the de-facto border with the Ukrainian mainland. Under Ukrainian law, that allows authorities to block her entry into Ukraine.

A Ukranian Security Service spokeswoman said that the country had banned Samoylova, who sang at the opening of the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, from entering for three years.