Milan Cortina, Ukraine: ‘We will boycott the Paralympic opening ceremony’

Milan, 20 February (LaPresse) – ‘The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine declares that the Ukrainian Paralympic team and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine will boycott the opening ceremony of the XIV Winter Paralympic Games and demand that the Ukrainian flag not be used at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympics!’. This is according to a press release announcing Ukraine’s protest against the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Paralympic Games in Milan Cortina under their own flags. ‘It is necessary to realise that Russia, which today occupies Ukrainian territories, is killing civilians on a massive scale – women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities – and immediately raises its flag, stained with the blood of the Ukrainian civilian population, over the territories it has conquered,’ the statement reads, ‘it is precisely this flag of the murderous country that the IPC leadership is allowing to be raised on the territory of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics, granting the maximum number of places for participation to representatives of Russia!’