Sawt Falasteen - Russians, Belarusians to compete under own flags at Paralympics: IPC tells AFP

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) told AFP the athletes would be "treated like (those from) any other country".

Valeriy Sushkevych, president of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee, was furious at the announcement.

"I am very, very angry and outraged by the decision to allow six Russian athletes to compete under their national flag," he told AFP by phone.

"This is terrible."

Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned from competing under their own flags since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The IPC unexpectedly lifted its suspension on Russian and Belarusian athletes at the organisation's general assembly in September.

The partial suspension - introduced in 2023 to replace the fullbban imposed after Russia's invasion in 2022 - allowed athletes to compete only as neutrals.

Athletes from both nations have been permitted to accumulate ranking points since Russia and Belarus won an appeal against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in December.

The six Russian athletes at the upcoming games will compete in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding.

The participants have already been determined, with the RPC announcing three-time alpine skiing gold medallist Alexey Bugaev among the athletes taking part.

Russia was awarded two slots in alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing and two in snowboarding.

Sushkevych said despite Russia's presence there was no question of Ukraine boycotting the Paralympics. Ukraine came second in the medals table four years ago in Beijing.

"If we do not go, it would mean allowing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to claim a victory over Ukrainian Paralympians and over Ukraine by excluding us from the Games," said the 71-year-old.

"That will not happen!"

The four Belarusian slots are all in cross-country skiing. Male and female athletes from both nations will be taking part.

P.AbuBaker--SF-PST