Sam McNeil contributed to this report from Paris.

to stage Eurovision with a distinctly Ukrainian flavor, decking out the English city in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.Even before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine used Eurovision for cultural diplomacy, as a way to tell the world about their country’s history, music and language. Ukrainian singer

won the contest in 2016 — two years after Russia illegally seized Crimea — with a song about the expulsion of Crimean Tatars by Stalin in 1944. Kalush Orchestra’s winning song “Stefania” blended rapping in Ukrainian with a haunting refrain on a traditional Ukrainian wind instrument.Now the message is that Ukraine is still standing, and still fighting.Daniil admitted to feeling a “little bit of pressure” ahead of Saturday. But he said it was “such a privilege” to represent Ukraine.

“We have two missions here,” his brother Valentyn said. One is to come out at or near the top in Saturday’s 26-nation musical showdown. The other is “to remind Europeans about the war.”As part of its Eurovision journey, the band is fundraising to buy robotic de-mining systems to help clear an area of Ukraine he says is 3 1/2 times the size of Switzerland.

Ziferblat’s trip to Eurovision coincided with Vyshyvanka Day — the third Thursday in May, when Ukrainians around the world wear traditional embroidered shirts as a symbol of national pride.

The band members joined scores of Ukrainians clad in elaborately stitched vyshyvanka in a Basel park to eat borscht, sing Ukrainian songs and cheer on the band ahead of Saturday’s final.Three other Democrats are set to run in the primary. Keisha Sean Waites, a former state House member and former Atlanta City Council member, most recently lost a bid to become Fulton County clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts. Peter Hubbard has worked for the Georgia Center for Clean Energy Solutions. Robert Jones has worked on energy for both the government and private companies.

Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X:

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Five Turkish nationals appeared in court in northernon Thursday following a wave of police raids and arrests triggered by a shooting incident reportedly targeting Greek intelligence officers.