The Ukrainian team will boycott the closing ceremony of the Paralympics — due to the presence of Russians and Belarusians

Author:
Oleksandr Bulin
Date:

The Ukrainian national team will boycott the closing ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan. The reason is the presence of Russians and Belarusians under their flags.

This was reported to Suspilne Sport by the National Paralympic Committee.

The ceremony will begin on March 15 at 9:30 PM (Kyiv time).

On March 6, the Ukrainian national team boycotted the opening ceremony of the Paralympics for the same reason. 15 countries, as well as officials from the European Union, joined the boycott.

This year, at the Paralympic Games, Ukraine took seventh place with 19 medals: three gold and eight silver and bronze medals. The first three places are behind China, the USA and the Russian Federation. However, in terms of the total number of medals, Ukraine is third.

  • At this yearʼs Paralympic Games, six Russian athletes competed under their own flag and anthem — for the first time since 2014. And for future international competitions, Russia is preparing those who started playing sports after amputations due to participation in the war against Ukraine.
  • Babel correspondent Valeriia Tsuba told us the most important things about this yearʼs representatives of Russia and those who could potentially represent the country in the near future.

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