Ukraine to boycott Winter Paralympics over Russians competing under their flag

Ukraine announced Wednesday that its officials will not participate in next month’s Winter Paralympics due to organizers’ decision to allow a handful of Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their flag.

Ukrainian athletes will still participate in the Milan Cortina Games, scheduled for March 6-15, but no officials from the country will be present at the opening ceremony or any events, Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi said.

In a statement to NBC News, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which operates separately from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which currently runs the Winter Olympics, said 10 para-athletes from Russia and Belarus would be allowed to compete in the Paralympics, and would do so under the flags of their respective countries.

Follow live coverage of the Winter Olympics here.

This is a marked departure from the IOC’s position, which considers athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete as neutral, independent athletes. Twenty of these athletes were allowed to compete in Milan Cortina without a flag, colors or national anthem.

Belarus was a key area for the Kremlin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and its athletes have been subject to the same bans as Russia on the international stage.

“The decision by the @Paralympics organizers to allow the killers and their accomplices to compete in the Paralympics under national flags is both disappointing and outrageous,” Bidny said in a separate statement Wednesday, accusing the IPC of giving voice to Russia’s war propaganda.

“The flags of Russia and Belarus have no place at international sporting events that defend fairness, integrity and respect. They are the flags of regimes that have transformed sport into a tool of war, lies and contempt,” he added.

Both countries were banned from Paralympic competitions after the invasion, but regained full IPC membership rights and privileges after member organizations voted in September not to maintain their partial suspensions.

Russia will have two places in para-alpine skiing, two in para-cross-country skiing and two in para-snowboarding, while Belarus got four places in total, all in para-cross-country skiing, the IPC press release said.