Action reported in Euronews on March 7th

On Friday, March 7, 2026, as the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games was about to begin, the association "For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!" and four other pro-Ukraine organizations held a symbolic demonstration in front of the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center on the Quai Branly in Paris. Their protest stemmed from the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) decision to reinstate Russian and Belarusian athletes under their national colors—a decision the associations denounced as a strategic victory for Putin's regime.

A return to national rule that is causing a scandal

For the first time since the Sochi Games in 2014—the year of the illegal annexation of Crimea—the Russian flag flew at the Paralympic Games. The IPC had suspended Russia and Belarus in February 2022, following the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. This suspension has now been lifted: six Russian and four Belarusian athletes are now competing under their national colors.

This decision sparked a wave of boycotts unprecedented in the history of the Paralympic movement. Sixteen countries refused to attend the opening ceremony, including Ukraine, Germany, Poland, the Baltic states, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and France. European Union officials also boycotted the event. French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari confirmed that no French representative would be present at either the opening or closing ceremony.

Local urban development plan in the street: "trivialization" and "abandonment of Ukraine"

Alongside RESU, Ukraine Comb'art, CAMU and Kalyna, For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours! chose a strong symbolic location for its protest: the Russian Orthodox Center on Quai Branly, described by the organizers as "a Kremlin propaganda tool in the heart of Paris".

Pierre Raiman, vice-president of PLU, clarified the purpose of the action: to denounce "the strategy of normalizing the gradual return to international sport of Russian athletes excluded since 2022." In their joint statement, the associations go further:

A widening breach: from the CIP to FIFA

The Paralympic controversy is part of a broader movement to gradually reintegrate Russia into world sport, which PLU and its partners describe as a "strategic victory for the Kremlin dictatorship" .

Several international federations, including the judo federation, have already readmitted Russian athletes. IOC President Kirsty Coventry indirectly opened the door to a Russian return to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, citing the "neutrality" of sport. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, for his part, called for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia in international football, arguing that they "have achieved nothing."

The CIP goes further: Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine, future Paralympians?

The most shocking statement came from the president of the IPC himself. Interviewed by the BBC, Andrew Parsons confirmed that Russian soldiers wounded during the invasion of Ukraine will be allowed to participate in the next Paralympic Games . Invoking the origins of the Paralympic movement—born after the Second World War to support the reintegration of wounded soldiers—he stated that the IPC offers "a second chance, no matter what they did on the battlefield."

A position that pro-Ukraine associations consider utterly unacceptable, given that war crimes are documented and thousands of Ukrainian athletes have paid with their lives for Russian aggression.