Paralympics opening ceremony to be boycotted by number of countries due to admission of Russia, Belarus – Sushkevych

Ukraine and a number of other countries will boycott the opening ceremony of the Paralympics because of the decision to allow the Paralympic teams of Russia and Belarus to participate.

The President of the Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, Valeriy Sushkevych stated this in a comment, Ukrinform reports.

"The political identification of a murderer state at the highest sporting forum of the Paralympic movement is unacceptable. Many European countries have already stated today that, like the Ukrainian Paralympic team, they will not take part in the opening ceremony," Sushkevych said.

He expressed hope that in the days remaining until March 6 - the opening of the Paralympics - the issue regarding the Russian and Belarusian teams could still be resolved.

"I hope, just like our Paralympic team, that there is still an opportunity - we have one week until the opening - for Italy to ban the use of political symbols and attributes of the murderer state and its satellite at the Winter Paralympics in Milan and Cortina," Sushkevych said.

As Ukrinform previously reported, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) stated that six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Winter Paralympics under their national flags.

In recent days, several other countries - including Ukraine, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Poland, Estonia, and Latvia - have expressed their disagreement and refused to participate in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on March 6 in Verona.

Photo: National Olympic Committee of Ukraine / Facebook