Eurovision move out of the way, because Vladimir Putin is set to stage his very own anti-Western international song contest. The rival event – called Intervision – previously ran in Russia between 1965 and 1968 and then later between 1977 and 1980 but was a flop.

Putin looks to be starting a new singing competition this year with a series of 'friendly' Russian allies in response to the on-going Eurovision ban due to his invasion of Ukraine

Russia's love affair with Eurovision reached a peak in 2008, when the singer Dima Bilan was crowned the winner of the competition.

The revived contest, planned to take place in Moscow later this year, is Russia's way of directly challenging Eurovision while promoting "traditional values." View on euronews

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Feb. 3 ordering the revival of the Intervision song contest, the Soviet Union's equivalent to Eurovision. The Eurovision Song Contest banned Russia from participation in 2022 following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.