The Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Matviy Bidnij announced that the Ukrainian side will not participate in the official events of the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan and Cortina. The decision of the organizers to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus under national flags was the reason for this step.
“In response to the outrageous decision of the organizers of the Paralympic Games to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under national flags, Ukrainian officials will not go to the Paralympic Games. We will also not be present at the Opening Ceremony and will not attend other official events of the Paralympics. We thank every government official of the countries of the free world who will also ignore the official events of the Paralympics. We continue the fight!”, the minister wrote.
The Winter Paralympic Games will be held from March 6 to 15, 2026. Earlier, Matvey Bidny expressed his disappointment over the participation of ten athletes from Russia and Belarus in these competitions.
In September 2024, the International Paralympic Committee fully restored the rights of the Russian Paralympic Committee. According to the IPC decision, Russian athletes received six places, Belarusians – four.
This will be the first time the Russian flag has been raised at the Paralympic Games since 2014, when the Games were held in Sochi. At the 2018 and 2022 Games, Russian athletes did not compete under their own flag due to the state anti-doping program and the events after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
