'Allowing Killers To Compete': Ukraine Condemns Return Of Russia, Belarus To Paralympics

Last Updated:February 18, 2026, 15:46 IST

Ukraine condemns IPC's decision to let Russian and Belarusian athletes compete under their national flags at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina.

Ukraine has sharply criticised the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, overturning restrictions imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will compete under their own flags rather than as neutrals, the International Paralympic Committee confirmed.

“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.

‘No Place at International Events’

Bidny said 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," he added.

He further claimed 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."

Under the allocation, Russia will receive two slots each in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding. Belarus will have four athletes in cross-country skiing.

Suspension Lifted

Russia and Belarus were initially banned following the 2022 invasion. A partial suspension introduced in 2023 allowed athletes to compete only as neutrals.

However, the IPC lifted that suspension at its General Assembly in September. The governing body said the athletes at Milan-Cortina would be “treated like (those from) any other country."

The decision has now reignited tensions between sport and geopolitics, just months before the Games begin.

(with AFP inputs)

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