Ukrainian officials are poised to boycott the upcoming Milano Cortina Paralympics next month, protesting the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under their national flags.
Ukraine’s Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi confirmed on Wednesday that while Ukrainian athletes will still take part in the 6-15 March games, no official representatives from Ukraine will attend the opening ceremony or any other event.
It comes after the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) decision on Tuesday, which cleared a combined total of 10 para-athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete. Six slots have been handed to Russia and four to Belarus.
It will mark the first time a Russian flag has been flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. The country’s athletes were initially banned because of a state-sponsored doping program, and the sanctions against Russia have continued since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Should a Paralympic athlete win gold, it will be the first time the Russian anthem has been played on the stage of a major global sporting event since the invasion.
The IPC statement reads: “The IPC can confirm that NPC Russia has been awarded a total of six slots: two in Para alpine skiing (one male, one female), two in Para cross-country skiing (one male, one female), and two in Para snowboard (both male).
“NPC Belarus, has been awarded four slots in total, all in cross-country skiing (one male and three female).”
IPC President Andrew Parsons claimed in November that there would be no athletes from those countries at the Milan Cortina Games because the sports’ governing bodies had maintained their bans.
The following month, an appeal from Russia saw the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturn a blanket ban imposed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation – paving the way for Russians to compete as neutral athletes at the 2026 Olympics, and with their own flag and anthem at the Paralympics.
Tuesday’s announcement stands as another indicator that Russia and its national identity will be fully restored in Olympic circles well ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
