Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR), Channel One Russia and Radio House Ostankino are planning to withdraw from the EBU.
In a statement, the organisation said it had been informed by RTR on Friday that this would be the outcome of suspending Russia from the Eurovision Song Contest.
Iceland, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands had called for Russia to be banned from the contest. Finland went further, saying that if Russia were to participate in this year’s event, it would not be submitting an entry.
The EBU said its executive board felt the inclusion of a Russian entry would bring the contest into disrepute.
“Our Union is committed to upholding the values of public service media and, as this conflict escalates, our priority must be to ensure all citizens continue to have access to trusted, independent news and information and that journalists are allowed to report freely and safely.
“We stand with all our Members who are working under extremely challenging circumstances to bring impartial reporting to their audiences – supporting media freedom must now be a priority for all sides in this conflict.”
The 66th edition of Eurovision will take place in Turin in May.
