Ukraine should impose sanctions against Russian Paralympians, Heraskevych says

According to Ukrinform, this opinion was expressed on a television broadcast by Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych.

"We can impose sanctions on these athletes because they are former military personnel and have committed crimes against Ukrainians, take this to the international level, and then they will not be able to enter Italy. And it doesn't matter whether the IOC wants to admit them or not, whether the IOC is pro-Russian or not. They simply won't be allowed to compete because they won't be able to get there. I think this is the best solution in this situation," Heraskevych said.

As reported by Ukrinform, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced that six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milano Cortina under their national flags.

Earlier, the IOC disqualified Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych before the start of the Winter Olympics in Italy because he competed wearing a helmet with portraits of 24 Ukrainian athletes who died during the war. In its decision, the IOC cited an article of the Olympic Charter that prohibits political demonstrations at sporting venues.