Ukraine's Foreign Minister presents award to young singer who refused to share stage with Russian performer

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, has awarded a special commendation to 13-year-old Sofiia Samoliuk, who refused to perform at the Sanremo Festival because a representative from Russia was also invited to take part in the festival. Source: Kuleba on Instagram Quote from Kuleba: "13-year-old Sofiia Samoliuk refused to perform at the children's singing festival in San Remo because a Russian representative was present there.

Her speech has captivated the whole world. She refused to sing, but her important words secured a victory for Ukraine in San Remo.

I'm grateful to her for this act, and I don't want her to be deprived of a well-deserved award because of the festival organisers' decision. That's why I'm awarding her a special commendation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for spiritual victory in cultural diplomacy."

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• Sofiia Samoliuk, a 13-year-old singer from Ukraine, has refused to perform on the same stage with a Russian performer during the Sanremo Junior Festival, which took place in Italy on 3 May.
• Sofiia's press manager said the festival's organisers only announced that Russian artists would be taking part in the competition several hours before it was set to begin.
• Instead of performing her song, Sofiia Samoliuk gave a speech in which she said it was unacceptable for representatives of the aggressor country to perform at an international level.

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