Crimean beauty queen  Olga Valeeva has been  arrested by Russian authorities and fined 40,000 Russian rubles ( $680 dollars) for singing the patriotic Ukrainian song “Chervona Kalyna.”  Also Valeeva will not be spending anytime in jail because she has two underage children at home. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Crimea confirmed Valeeva and her friend posted a online video of themselves performing “Chervona Kalyna” and because of the performance on the video, Valeeva and her friend were detained for suspicion of committing illegal actions which dishonored  the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and publicly displaying forbidden symbols. Valeeva and her friend were found guilty by the court  and Valeeva’s friend was sentenced to 10 days in detention.

“Chervona Kalyna” is a patriotic Ukrainian tune which has gone viral during the Russian invasion and the rock band Pink Floyd have released their own cover version. The lyrics urges Ukraine to stand up and praise like a red kalyna shrub (“chervona kalyna”) which means growing in a field. During an interview on Telegram last Sunday the adviser to the Russian administration head of occupied Crimea Oleg Kriuchkov discussed the  differences  of performing “Chervona Kalyna” in Russian and  Ukraine.

“In Crimea, no one is punished for normal Ukrainian songs But! No one will allow nationalist hymns to be sung here! If you want to sing ‘Chervona Kalyna’ or ‘Our father is Bandera…’ we will provide a platform – we will take you to neutral territory to Nikolaev or Zaporozhzhia. Sing all you want. said Kriuchkov

Crimea was illegally won by Russia in 2014 and since then people from human rights have observed and described Crimea’s fall  with the authorities and Russian security services who have been arresting Ukrainian people.