Ukraine's public broadcaster says it received no fines over Azovstal T-shirts at Eurovision

Ukraine's public broadcaster said on May 15 that it did not receive a fine over Azovstal T-shirts worn by Ukrainian artist Alyona Alyona and her delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest on the weekend.

In an Instagram post on May 14, Alyona Alyona, whose real name is Aliona Savranenko, said the clothing printed with the logo "Free Azovstal Defenders" had incurred a penalty from the organizers.

"We took a big risk, but it worked out. We just got off with a financial fine," the original post said.

An edited version later on only stated: "We took a lot of risks, but everything worked out."

Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne said in a statement on May 15 that it had not received any "complaints or fines for alleged violations of the rules."

Ukraine's Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil won third place at the 68th Eurovision competition on May 12 with their song "Teresa & Maria."

This year's Eurovision was particularly politically sensitive – the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance of public service media organizations that organize the contest, cracked down on performers who tried to signal support for Palestine amid the ongoing invasion of Gaza, which has killed over 35,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

Protesters criticized Eurovision for allowing Israel to participate in the 2024 contest.

Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022.

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