The
National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) was a full member of the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) from 1st January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the
Eurovision Song Contest from then. It participated in the contest representing Ukraine from the in 2003. NTU had previously planned to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in , but the planned entry failed to materialize. Since 2017, its successor, the
Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC/Suspilne), has been the participating broadcaster representing Ukraine. NTU made its debut in the contest in 2003, when it finished in 14th place with the song "Hasta la vista" performed by
Oleksandr Ponomariov. Ukraine won the contest at the second attempt in , with the song "
Wild Dances" by
Ruslana, defeating second-placed by 17 points, 280 to 263. In , Ukraine became the first
Eastern European country to win the contest twice, when "
1944" by
Jamala won. The televote was won by and the jury vote by ; Ukraine was second in both, but won with an overall total of 534 points, with Australia second with 511 points and Russia third with 491 points. In , Ukraine was pre-qualified for the final as hosts, however it achieved its worst result to date – 24th place with 36 points. Ukraine was absent twice from the contest, in
2015 and
2019, for reasons related to the
ongoing war with Russia: • NTU sat out the 2015 contest because of financial difficulties in relation to the
war in Donbas. However, Ukraine broadcast the contest despite not taking part. NTU pledged to bring Ukraine back to the contest for 2016, which was finalized and announced on 16 September 2015. •
Vidbir, the
Ukrainian national selection for the 2019 contest, was won by
Maruv with "
Siren Song". However, UA:PBC required any potential representative in the contest to sign a contract which contained a clause to forbid them from performing in
Russia. The winner Maruv, as well as runners-up Freedom Jazz and
Kazka, all refused to sign the contract, leading to Ukraine's withdrawal from the contest on 27 February. In ,
Go_A won the national selection
Vidbir and was set to represent Ukraine with the song "
Solovey", before the contest was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. They were instead internally selected to represent the country with the song "
Shum", with which they finished in fifth place. After the contest, "Shum" entered the
Billboard Global 200 at position 158, becoming the first ever Ukrainian-language song to chart there. Ukraine won the contest for a third time in , with the song "
Stefania" performed by
Kalush Orchestra. "Stefania" later went on to surpass the peak of "Shum" on the
Billboard Global 200, charting at position 85. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ukraine (along with Luxembourg) are the only countries to have qualified for the final of every edition they have competed in. Ukraine has a total of 14 top-ten placements (among those are nine top-five placements). Ukraine's participation and success in the contest has been acknowledged as a factor in the country's growing
soft power and international image. This view is shared by Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has supported the country's continued participation following the
Russian invasion as a way to promote the Ukrainian national cause internationally. == Participation overview ==