In 2022, Russia was excluded from Eurovision with reference to the Ukraine war.
On Monday, the country's president Putin signed a decree stating that the music competition Intervision will now be held in Moscow, aiming to "develop international, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation".
The president's envoy Michail Sjvydkoj has previously told the state news agency Tass that the competition will be held in September this year and that "almost 20 countries are ready to participate", including members of the so-called Brics group (which includes, among others, Brazil, India, and China) as well as the CIS (with countries such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan).
Russian senator Lilija Gumerova tells Tass that Intervision will promote "real music" and not "false values alien to normal people", which is interpreted as a direct criticism of Eurovision participants, such as drag artist Conchita Wurst.
Intervision was held in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily for countries in the former Eastern Bloc. As early as 2014, there were Russian plans to revive the competition, but they were never realized.
