Paralympians in Ukraine boycott the opening ceremony

The Ukrainian Winter Paralympic team has decided to boycott the opening ceremony of the event next month after inviting Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flag.

It was announced on Tuesday that six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will compete in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding at the Milan-Cortina Games, which start on March 6.

Both countries were previously suspended from competing in the Paralympics after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as Belarus was an ally of Russia.

In September, the International Paralympic Committee lifted its ban on athletes from the two countries competing in the Games.

However, the International Paralympic Committee does not govern the six sports contested at the Paralympics, and although individual bodies, including the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), refused to lift their ban, Russia and Belarus won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.

As a result, the athletes were able to return to FIS competitions, and the ten Paralympians were given invitations from a bilateral committee to compete in Italy.

After announcing that Ukrainian officials would avoid the competition entirely, the country’s National Paralympic Committee now says team members will miss the opening ceremony.

The organization also demanded “not to use the Ukrainian flag.”

The team will still compete in the Games and “fight for sporting victories for Ukrainian athletes.”

Earlier this week, in response to criticism over the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete, the IOC said it was “a democratic organization and the decision to lift the partial suspension of the National Councils of Belarus and Russia was taken by the IOC member organizations at the 2025 General Assembly.”