Ukrainians in Russia include all the family of hetman Ivan Mazepa, A. Vojnarovsky, and those in Mazepa's Cossack forces that returned to Russia. Some were imprisoned in exile for the rest of their lives such as hetmanPavlo Polubotok, Pavlo Holovaty, P. Hloba and Petro Kalnyshevsky. Beginning in the 19th century, there was a continuous migration from Belarus, Ukraine and Northern Russia to settle the distant areas of the Russian Empire. The promise of free fertile land was an important factor for many peasants who until 1861, lived under Serfdom. In the colonization of the new lands, a significant contribution was made by ethnic
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 C1R officially announced that they would internally select the artist and song that would represent Russia. On 19 February, Dina Garipova and the song "What If", composed by Gabriel Alares, Joakim Bjornberg and Leonid Gutkin, were selected to represent Russia. "What If" was presented to the public on 24 February during the C1R television newscast "Vremya". After the presentation of the song, several media outlets reported the possibility of plagiarism of several previously released songs: "Skin on Skin" originally recorded by Sarah Connor, "Pozwól życ" originally recorded by Gosia Andrzejewicz, "All Over The World" originally recorded by Brian Kennedy and