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For the first time since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian flag will be represented at a major international sporting event.
The International Paralympic Committee announced on Tuesday that the Russian National Paralympic Committee had secured six places for the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games and that Belarus, a close ally of Russia, had also secured four places.
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons passes the Paralympic flag to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, not pictured, after receiving it from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, not pictured, during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France, September 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, file)
“The IPC can confirm that CNP Russia has been allocated a total of six places: two in para-alpine skiing (one man, one woman), two in para-cross-country skiing (one man, one woman) and two in para-snowboard (both men),” the statement said.
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“NPC Belarus was allocated four places in total, all in cross-country skiing (one man and three women).”
If any of these athletes win gold in their respective sport, it will be the first time the Russian anthem has been played on the stage of a major global sporting event in the last four years. We haven’t heard it at any Olympic or Paralympic Games since the 2016 Games in Rio.
The announcement also marks the first time Russian athletes will compete in the Paralympics under their own flag in more than a decade, both due to war and a ban stemming from a state-sponsored doping program.
The IPC, which operates separately from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announced in September a partial lifting of the suspensions imposed on Russia and Belarus.
Anastasia Kucherova carries a sign as she leads Ukrainian athletes into the arena during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
IPC President Andrew Parson then told the Associated Press in November that no athletes from those countries would compete in the Games, but Russia appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which opened the way for athletes to compete under a neutral flag at the Olympics and their own at the Paralympics.
UKRAINIAN OLYMPIAN OUT OF WINTER GAMES WITH HELMET HONORING FALLEN COMPATRIANS
The announcement sparked backlash and Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi posted on social media that no Ukrainian officials would be present at the Paralympics.
“In response to the scandalous decision by the organizers of the Paralympic Games to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under their national flags, Ukrainian officials will not attend the Paralympic Games,” Bidnyi said.
“We will also not be present at the opening ceremony or attend other official Paralympic events,” its statement continued. “We thank all officials from countries in the free world who will also ignore official Paralympic Games events. We continue the fight!”
In an initial statement on social media, Bidnyi said the flags of Russia and Belarus “have no place at international sporting events that uphold fairness, integrity and respect.”
He also accused the IPC of giving Russia a platform “to express its war propaganda.”
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men’s skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Tuesday’s announcement comes amid controversy within the Olympics after a Ukrainian athlete was disqualified from a men’s skeleton event after refusing to use a helmet other than one honoring his country’s athletes killed in the war with Russia.
The IOC said the move stemmed from its rules prohibiting athletes from making political statements on the field of play.
