Russian, Belarusian athletes to compete under own flag at Paralympics 2026

Ukraine reacts angrily to the International Paralympic Committee’s decision, saying the move was ‘disappointing and outrageous’.Published On 18 Feb 2026Ukraine has slammed the move to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own national flags at the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026 and overturn the ban imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion.Russia and Belarus will have a combined 10 para-athletes at next month’s Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said in a ⁠statement on Tuesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘Zionist to the core’: Swiss commentator slams Israeli bobsleigh teamlist 2 of 3Ukraine skeleton racer disqualified from Olympics over war memorial helmetlist 3 of 3‘I regret nothing’: Vonn on horrifying ski crash at Winter Olympicsend of list“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 Matvii Bidnyi wrote on social media.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.Attacking President Vladimir Putin, Bidnyi said, 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.”Belarus and Russia were banned from Paralympic competitions after the invasion of Ukraine, but regained full membership rights in the IPC after member organisations voted in September 2025 to ⁠lift their partial suspensions.International federations for each sport on the Paralympic Games programme had said they would maintain bans on athletes from those countries, but Russia and Belarus won an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport back in December against the ‌International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).