The decision to admit Russia and Belarus to the Paralympic Games under national flags is outrageous. It disregards the Paralympic community and all of Ukraine, and undermines trust in international sports.

The flags and anthems of the aggressors embody the regimes that are waging an aggressive war. With these flags in hand, cities are being destroyed. Holding them, civilians are being killed.

The raising of these flags in the arena justifies the crimes of the Russian occupiers and their Belarusian accomplices.

Russia has turned sport into an instrument of war against the free world, not only against Ukraine.

Within the Paralympic movement, the RF glorifies participants of the aggressive war. They are presented with awards for supporting the aggression. Ukraine has already applied sanctions against Russian sports propagandists, the Russian Paralympic Committee, and its head, Pavel Rozhkov.

Paralympic sports must stand for dignity and justice. They must protect those who overcome barriers. They must not become a platform for states that multiply these barriers through war.

We call upon the International Paralympic Committee and the games' organizing committee to reconsider the decision regarding the admission of Russians and Belarusians under national symbols. We expect a ban on the state symbols of Russia and Belarus at the Paralympics. We ask our partners to act on principle.

If this shameful decision is not reconsidered, Ukrainian officials will not attend the Paralympic Games. We will not be present at the opening ceremony. Furthermore, we will not attend other official events.

We call upon government representatives of the free world countries not to attend the opening ceremony and other events within the framework of the Paralympic Games, so as not to normalize the whitewashing of war crimes and genocide by their presence, and to clearly state their position by condemning the aggressive war and those who facilitate the impunity of the RF and Belarus.

Ukraine will continue its work across all international fora to restore justice. We defend fair sport. We defend human dignity. And we defend the world’s right to call a war a war, and the aggressor an aggressor.