The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has banned Ukrainian Paralympians from using uniforms with a map of Ukraine at this yearʼs Winter Paralympics.
This was stated by the President of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine Valeriy Sushkevych in an interview with Ukrinform.
According to him, the parade uniform of the Ukrainian national team was symbolic — it depicted a globalized map of Ukraine "with all its territories without occupation by Russia".
"This form was very beautiful, very symbolic and very emphatically ʼshoutedʼ that Ukraine exists in the world, in Europe, with all its territories without occupation by Russia," said Sushkevych.
However, IPC declared the uniform "political" and did not allow athletes to compete in it. At the last moment, the uniform had to be changed.
The design of the parade uniform was developed by Viktor Anisimov, as during the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris. The International Committee then also tried to ban Ukrainians from wearing uniforms with military accents, but the committee "managed to get through", says Sushkevych.
The head of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine also noted that one of the reasons for creating the uniform was that loyalty to Russia is increasing in the world, in particular, Russian Paralympians were allowed to compete under their own flag.
"Now we were more radical. Our radicalism is explained by the fact that after Paris, this escalation of loyalty to the "rush" took place with new force, a new wave. That is, there are already subjects of the Paralympic bureaucracy who are watching to prevent Ukraine from declaring itself as a country without occupation, and that it will fight in this form against the aggressor country," the president of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine emphasized.
The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games will be held from March 6 to 15 in Milan and Cortina dʼAmpezzo, Italy. Ukraine will be represented by 35 Paralympians in four sports.
The Ukrainian national team will boycott the opening ceremony of this yearʼs Winter Paralympic Games due to the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the competition.
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