The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine announces that the Ukrainian Paralympic team will boycott the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games and demands that the Ukrainian flag not be used at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Games.
“The Ukrainian Paralympic community and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine are outraged by the cynical decision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to award Russia and Belarus bilateral slots, which would allow six Russian Paralympic athletes and four Belarusian Paralympic athletes to compete in the XIV Winter Paralympic Games. We would like to point out that neither Russia nor Belarus passed the qualification process to receive licenses to participate in the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games!” the Committee’s statement reads.
It is noted that even after the 2025 IPC General Assembly’s decision to restore their full membership in the international Paralympic movement, Russia and Belarus were not allowed to participate in the Winter Paralympics in Milano-Cortina, as they did not have any legal license for their sporting entities.
“Many countries of the world applied for additional slots to allow their young athletes to participate and to begin developing winter Paralympic sports in their countries, but contrary to the regulations governing the allocation of these slots, the IPC decided to award the largest number of slots to Russia,” the Committee said.
The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine considers this fact a continuation of the IPC’s systemic policy of loyalty toward a country that has now become a military threat to virtually all European countries.
“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 XIV Winter Paralympic Games and demand that the Ukrainian flag not be used at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Games,” the statement reads.
At the same time, they noted that the team will compete for Ukrainian athletes’ victories at the Winter Paralympic Games.
“We are grateful for the European Union’s strong response to the IPC’s decision to allow political attributes of Russia and its satellite, Belarus, to host the 2026 Winter Paralympics, which contradicts the humane, democratic principles of the international Paralympic movement and its civilizational values… And today we call on IPC leaders to remember the high ideals of the international Paralympic movement, which Dr. Guttmann laid out in this movement following the Second World War, and to stop the political influence of a country that is pushing the world toward a third world war!” the Committee stated.
As reported, Ukrainian Youth and Sports Minister Matviy Bidny stated that Ukrainian officials will not attend the 2026 Paralympic Games in response to the organizers’ decision to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under their national flags.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called on partner countries to boycott participation in the inauguration ceremony of the Paralympic Games following the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to allow the use of national symbols of the Russian Federation and Belarus. He thanked Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Sports Minister Andrea Abodi for their clear position on this decision.
Earlier, it became known that the International Paralympic Committee had made a decision according to which several Russian and Belarusian athletes would compete under their own flags at the Paralympic Games, and the national anthem would be played for all gold medalists.
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