Russia's Eurovision Entry Posts Anti-War Song and Flees Country

A band that had been chosen to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest has released a song that condemns their country's invasion of Ukraine.

Little Big released a video of a song in English titled "Generation Cancellation" which expresses anger at the war in Ukraine and the propaganda pushed on Russian state television justifying the aggression, Newsweek reports.

The video makes references to political leaders, the Russian army and depicts scenes of destruction wrought by Putin's forces.

"We adore our country, but we completely disagree with the war in Ukraine, moreover, we believe that any war is unacceptable," the band's leader Ilya Prusikin said in a statement.

"We condemn the actions of the Russian government, and we are so disgusted by the Russian military propaganda machine that we decided to drop everything and leave the country," he said. The band is now based in Los Angeles, news outlet Meduza reported.

The group was supposed to represent Russia in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands which was canceled due to the COVID pandemic in favor of an online version of acoustic performances by the contestants.