Ukraine warns against raising Russian flag at 2026 Paralympics after IPC reinstates Moscow, Minsk

Ukraine’s Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi condemned a decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) that reinstates the membership rights of Russia and Belarus, calling it a betrayal of "conscience and the Olympic values."

The decision, adopted at the IPC’s general assembly in Seoul, paves the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Milano-Cortina, despite Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

"This decision means NPC (National Paralympic Committee) Belarus and NPC Russia now regain their full rights and privileges of IPC membership," the IPC said in a statement, according to AFP. It added that it would work with the two bodies to "put practical arrangements in place as soon as reasonably possible."

Bidnyi urged organizers of the 2026 Games not to allow Russia’s flag to appear at the event. "We call on our European partners, who will host the upcoming Winter Paralympic Games, not to allow the flag of the aggressor state to be raised over the free and democratic space while the war of aggression continues," he said. Ukraine will decide later whether to participate, he added.

The Russian Paralympic Committee welcomed the move, calling it "a fair decision" and "an example of how athletes' rights should be protected without discrimination on national or political grounds."

Participation in the Games still depends on international federations that govern the six winter Paralympic sports — para alpine skiing, para cross-country skiing, para snowboarding, para biathlon, para ice hockey, and wheelchair curling — most of which continue to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes.

The Russian flag has not been seen at the Paralympic Games since 2014. The IPC suspended Russia in 2016 over a state-backed doping scandal, forcing its athletes to compete under neutral status in 2018 and 2021. Russian and Belarusian Paralympic Committees were excluded entirely from the 2022 Beijing Games, and partially suspended in 2023.

Some athletes from both countries competed under a neutral flag at the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics under strict neutrality conditions. The IPC’s latest move follows a decision by the International Olympic Committee last week that similarly opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate at the 2026 Winter Olympics under neutrality requirements.

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The Kyiv IndependentTania Myronyshena