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The Milano-Cortina Paralympic Winter Games begin on Friday, but the opening ceremony has been marred by Ukraine leading a boycott of the few Russian competitors in the competition.
The Ukrainian team will skip the event in Verona to protest the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags instead of being neutral.
Russia and Belarus had been banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing following the invasion of Ukraine, although they were allowed to compete as neutral athletes at the Paris Paralympics two years later.
Valeriy Sushkevych, president of the Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, said that although he was upset by the decision, boycotting all competitions would be counterproductive.
“If we don’t go, it will mean allowing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to claim victory over the Ukrainian Paralympians and against Ukraine by taking us out of the Games. That’s not going to happen!” the 71-year-old said last month.
Ukrainians will join in boycotting the celebrations with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland.
