Flame is Burning was to be the Russian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kiev performed by Yulia Samoilova and would have participated in the second semifinal. On 22 March 2017, it was announced that Ukraine had issued a travel ban against Samoilova over a 2015 performance in Crimea, barring her from entering the country to participate in the contest. Russia formally declared their withdrawal on 13 April 2017, following with a statement from the EBU.