There's outrage in Ukraine as Russian athletes are allowed to compete in Paralympics

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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics There's outrage in Ukraine as Russian athletes are allowed to compete in Paralympics The International Paralympic Committee decided to allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags in Italy.

+ World There's outrage in Ukraine as Russian athletes are allowed to compete in Paralympics February 19, 20264:35 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Polina Lytvynova There's outrage in Ukraine as Russian athletes are allowed to compete in Paralympics Listen &middot; 3:03 3:03 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5718391/nx-s1-9656009" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The International Paralympic Committee decided to allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags in Italy. The decision has caused an outcry in Ukraine. Sponsor Message MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Russia's exile from sporting events is coming to an end. The International Paralympic Committee, or IPC, decided this week to allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags in Italy next month. Russian athletes were initially banned because of a doping scandal more than a decade ago. With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they were banned from further competition, same for athletes from Belarus, which served as a staging ground for the military operation. The decision to end their exile has caused an outcry in Ukraine, as NPR's Polina Lytvynova reports from Kyiv.

+ POLINA LYTVYNOVA, BYLINE: The President of Ukraine's National Paralympic Committee, Valeriy Sushkevych, can't hide his disappointment. VALERIY SUSHKEVYCH: (Speaking Ukrainian). LYTVYNOVA: "This is a shame. I was outraged, angry and simply shocked by the cynicism of this decision," he says. Zhan Beleniuk, a former Olympian and current member of Ukraine's Parliament, told NPR the decision is all about politics. ZHAN BELENIUK: (Speaking Ukrainian). LYTVYNOVA: "I'm used to cynicism and double standards," he says. "Bureaucrats can find justification for any situation." During the Olympic Winter Games, which come to a close this weekend, Beleniuk points out that a Ukrainian athlete was banned by authorities for wearing a helmet showing the faces of Ukrainian athletes killed during the war. He says letting Russian Paralympians compete as the Kremlin bombs civilian targets in Ukraine sends the wrong message. He says Ukraine tried hard to keep the Russians out. BELENIUK: (Speaking Ukrainian). LYTVYNOVA: "We communicate with embassies," he says, "because it is very effective when countries simply do not issue visas to Russia's representatives who were involved in some kind of propaganda or supported the war." In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed the move, saying it would allow Russian athletes to compete under the Russian flag. The Ukrainian team, meanwhile, is already in Italy. The president of the country's Paralympic committee says while its officials will boycott the formal ceremonies, the athletes will compete and try to win big. They came in second in the medal table in the last Games. SUSHKEVYCH: (Speaking Ukrainian). LYTVYNOVA: "If we don't go to the Paralympics, it means Putin managed to exclude us from the international Paralympic movement," he says. "The country needs our victory. It hopes and believes in us." Sushkevych hopes his team can give Ukrainians joy during a hard winter with severe cold and constant Russian attacks that cause low power and heat outages and, hopefully, a feeling of victory. Polina Lytvynova, NPR News, Kyiv. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();