Winter Paralympics 2022: Ukraine to take part in Beijing
Ukraine's National Paralympic Committee has confirmed that the country is to send its team in full despite Russia's invasion of the country.
Ukraine is to send a 29-strong team to the Beijing Winter Paralympics despite Russia's invasion of the country, the Ukrainian National Paralympic Committee has confirmed.
Russia launched an assault on Ukraine late last week, leading to a strong backlash from the international sporting community.
IPC set for decision on Russia and Belarus this week
After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) condemned Russia's breach of the Olympic Truce, which remains in place until after the end of the Winter Paralympics, Ukrainian athletes penned an open letter to the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to call for the suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes ahead of the Winter Games, telling the governing bodies: "Your legacy will be defined by your actions."
While the IPC is due to make a decision on Russian and Belarusian participation on Wednesday, Ukrainian Paralympians have moved to confirm that they are departing for the games from undisclosed locations, to compete in biathlon and cross-country skiing events.
"The team is going in full as we planned"
"Part of the team is in one place, part is in another," a spokesperson told Public Sports. "I hope that today we will unite and get to the airport and go to Beijing together. The team is not in Ukraine.
"We will not tell where we are. When we come to Beijing, we will tell. I hope that tomorrow, March 2, we will be in Beijing. The team is going [in] full as we planned."
Later that afternoon, a tweet from the official account of the Paralympic Games displayed the Ukrainian athletes prior to their departure for China.
The upcoming games will take place between 4 and 13 March.