Photo by Gerald Matzka / Getty Images
Russia has put Ukrainian singer and former Eurovision winner Jamala on a criminal wanted list.
According to The New York Times, Russian state media outlet TASS reported that the musician — full name Susana Dzhamaladinova — was listed on the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs' criminal database in October for violating an unspecified "article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.”
Russian outlet Zona Media said Jamala was placed on the list for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian Army. Prior to this, she was already one of 30+ Ukrainian artists banned from entering Russia for 50 years. The news comes amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
Jamala — a member of the Tatar ethnic group — won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with a politically charged song called "1944," which was written in response to the Russian government's deportation of Tatars from their native Crimea during WWII. She said the song was inspired by her great-grandmother's story, with many simultaneously interpreting it as a protest against Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
At the time, the song was condemned by Russia's state media, with President Vladimir Putin's administration accusing Jamala's song of violating Eurovision rules.
In response, Jamala wrote on Instagram that this instance was "yet another testament that truth can and should be expressed through art and music."
"Truth is unshakable, and various forms of expression — talking, photography, painting, and singing — can convey it," Jamala said before adding, "And when there is a war in your country, wherever you are, you represent the country in which there is a war."