MILAN, Italy – Ukraine’s Paralympic delegation announced Friday they will skip the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Paralympics scheduled for March 6 in Verona, protesting the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags.
The controversy stems from the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to grant 10 combined competition spots to athletes from Russia and Belarus, sparking significant political tension surrounding the upcoming Games amid the ongoing four-year conflict in Ukraine.
Russian officials have criticized the mixing of sports and politics, arguing that targeting disabled athletes crosses a line. However, Russia has faced widespread exclusion from international sporting events since launching its invasion of Ukraine.
In an official statement, Ukraine’s National Paralympic Committee declared: “The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine declares that the Ukrainian Paralympic team and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine are boycotting the opening ceremony of the 14th Winter Paralympic Games and demand that the Ukrainian flag not be used at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics-2026.”
The boycott decision comes after Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Games for wearing a helmet honoring athletes who died in the war.
Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi confirmed that while Ukrainian officials will boycott the March 6-15 Paralympics, the country’s athletes will still compete in their events.
Russian competitors received two slots each in Para alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowboarding, while Belarus was granted four positions exclusively in cross-country skiing.
Ukraine’s committee statement emphasized their objection to the selection process: “We draw attention to the fact that neither russia nor belarus went through the qualification process to obtain licences to participate in the Paralympic Games in Milano-Cortina.”
The statement continued: “Moreover, this occurred in accordance with the status of the russian and belarusian Paralympic committees that they received as countries that are carrying out a horrific military aggression on the territory of Ukraine.”
