Ukraine Slams Move To Allow Russians, Belarusians To Compete Under Own Flags At Paralympics
Six Russian and four Belarusian will be allowed to compete under their own flags and not as neutral athletes, the Games' governing body confirmed to AFP on Tuesday
By : AFP
Update: 2026-02-18 09:10 GMT
Kyiv: Ukraine on Wednesday slammed the move to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own national flags at the 2026 Paralympics in Milan-Cortina and overturn the ban imposed after Russia's 2022 invasion.
Six Russian and four Belarusian will be allowed to compete under their own flags and not as neutral athletes, the Games' governing body confirmed to AFP on Tuesday.
"The decision by the @Paralympics organisers to allow killers and their accomplices to compete at the Paralympic Games under national flags is both disappointing and outrageous," Ukraine's sports minister Matviy Bidny wrote on social media.
Russian and Belarusian flags "have no place at international sporting events that stand for fairness, integrity, and respect. These are the flags of regimes that have turned sport into a tool of war, lies, and contempt," Bidny added.
He said that in Russia, "Paralympic sport has been made a pillar for those whom putin sent to Ukraine to kill -- and who returned from Ukraine with injuries and disabilities."
Russia was awarded two slots in alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing and two in snowboarding. The four Belarusian slots are all in cross-country skiing.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) told AFP earlier the athletes would be "treated like (those from) any other country".
The IPC unexpectedly lifted its suspension on Russian and Belarusian athletes at the organisation's general assembly in September.
The partial suspension -- introduced in 2023 to replace the full ban imposed after Russia's invasion in 2022 -- allowed athletes to compete only as neutrals.