The International Paralympic Committee indicated on Tuesday that six Russian athletes and four Belarusian athletes will be able to participate in the 2026 Paralympic Games under their flags. Russia and Belarus were until now banned from sporting competitions after the invasion of Ukraine.

Published on: 02/17/2026 - 4:48 p.m. Modified on: 02/17/2026 - 5:29 p.m.

Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will be able to participate under their flag in the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan Cortina, the International Paralympic Committee told AFP on Tuesday February 17, a decision which marks the return to the sporting scene of two nations banned after the invasion of Ukraine.

"The Russian CNP [the National Paralympic Committee, Editor's note] was allocated a total of six places (...) The Belarusian CNP was allocated four places", the IPC told AFP, a representative of which, Craig Spence, indicated that these athletes would be treated like those from "any other country".

They will therefore be able to parade with their flags, wear the colors of their country and hear their anthem if appropriate.

This decision is the result of a decision by IPC members in September to let them compete with anthem and flag, then a judgment from the Court of Arbitration for Sport validating this decision despite opposition from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

As a result, Russian and Belarusian athletes depending on the sports covered by the FIS are allowed to compete, explained Craig Spence.

The decision paves the way for a more general reintegration of Russia and Belarus into world sport two years before the Los Angeles Olympics.

Russia will therefore be able to be present in Milan Cortina with “two representatives in Paralympic alpine skiing (1 man, 1 woman), two in Paralympic cross-country skiing (1 man, 1 woman) and two in Paralympic snowboarding (two men)”, according to the international committee.

Belarus "was allocated four places in total, all in cross-country skiing (1 man and 3 women)", according to the same source.

The Russian Paralympic Committee told local media that in alpine skiing Alexey Bugaev, three-time Paralympic champion, and Varvara Voronchikhina, two-time world champion, will participate.

In cross-country skiing, it will be Ivan Golubkov and Anastasia Bagiyan and in para-snowboarding, Dmitry Fadeev and Philippe Shebbo Monzer.

To readParalympic Games: when the war in Ukraine takes its place on the podiums

The Russians have been deprived of their colors in the Olympic arena since 2016, due to repeated doping scandals.

Then Russia and Belarus were deprived of international competitions on their soil and their flags, anthems and officials were largely banned from world sport because of the war in Ukraine which has raged for four years.

Moscow has always denounced these sanctions, believing that sport should be spared political considerations. She also considers her attack on Ukraine justified.

Russia has also denied, despite existing evidence and testimonies, having orchestrated a state doping system, notably at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Shortly after these Olympics, it illegally annexed the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula and sparked a conflict in the Ukrainian Donbass.

With AFP

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