Ukraine's Paralympic Committee President Valerii Sushkevych speaks to journalists after he arrived with Ukraine's Paralympic team members at Chopin Airport in Warsaw on March 15, 2022. JANEK SKARZYNSKI / AFP
Ukraine's Paralympic athletes will skip the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games next month in protest at the International Paralympic Committee's decision to allow Russian athletes to compete under their national flag, Ukraine's National Paralympic Committee said.
"The Ukrainian Paralympic team and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine are boycotting the opening ceremony of the 14th Winter Paralympic Games and demand that the Ukrainian flag not be used at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics-2026!," the committee said in a statement published late Thursday night, February 19.
The decision follows that of Ukrainian government officials, who announced on Wednesday they would boycott the March 6 ceremony in Verona. The IPC declined to comment when approached by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday, adding they were in contact with the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee.
Ukraine's fury was sparked by the IPC decision to allow six Russians and four Belarusians to take part under their own flags at the Milan-Cortina Paralympics, rather than as neutral athletes.
