Statement of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine on the decision of the International Paralympic Committee General Assembly of September 27, 2025

On September 27, 2025, the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee (hereinafter – IPC) adopted a disgraceful decision that shocked and outraged the entire civilized world! The IPC members effectively voted to reinstate all membership rights of russia and belarus in the International Paralympic Committee.

Thus, these two countries, which have destroyed the world order for more than the past three years and violated all norms of international law, have been restored to full membership in the International Paralympic Movement.

The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine draws attention to the fact that it was precisely during this General Assembly that russia launched a large-scale hybrid attack on a European and even global level: Poland, Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, France, Latvia, the USA, and Japan were subjected to critical provocative actions by the aggressor state, russia.

World leaders and their governments, during these days, are discussing protective measures against russia, as an aggressor state that has already brought the world to the brink of World War III.

Shocking and unprecedented in these circumstances appears the decision of the General Assembly to reintegrate russia and belarus into the global Paralympic Family, into the community of nations that uphold the high ideals of the Paralympic Movement.

It is to this country and its ally that the IPC General Assembly, by its decision, has allowed to raise at the Paralympic competitions of the International Paralympic Committee their flags, drenched in the blood of hundreds of thousands of people…

This disgraceful vote at the IPC General Assembly has ignored the efforts of millions of people from different countries of the world and leaders of civilized nations to stop the threat of humanity’s annihilation!

Those who voted for the return of russia and belarus to the International Paralympic Movement have disregarded the fact that all activities of the russian paralympic movement and its athletes over the past more than three years have vividly demonstrated total support for participants of russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine — the murderers of Ukrainian children, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities; the destroyers of children’s hospitals, sports facilities, housing, and energy infrastructure!

Those delegates who voted for this decision have actively ignored the fact that the russian paralympic committee actively integrates participants of the war in Ukraine into the russian paralympic movement. Today, hundreds of murderers of Ukrainian people are already part of russia’s national paralympic teams in various sports. Hundreds of them are already participants in national-level Paralympic competitions.

The president of the russian NPC and russian paralympic coaches publicly state in video interviews, published on the NPC russia website, that veterans of the murderous military operation are more prepared for Paralympic sports because Paralympic sport reminds them of their military victories. And their sporting achievements are not only the result of training but also the result of their combat experience.

A moral question arises: did the delegates of the IPC General Assembly vote to allow such athletes to participate in Paralympic competitions?

Ukrainian Paralympians call on the delegates of the IPC General Assembly, who ignored the potential threat of the destruction of human civilization, to heed the words of the genius of humanity, Albert Einstein:

“THE WORLD WILL NOT BE DESTROYED BY THOSE WHO DO EVIL, BUT BY THOSE WHO WATCH THEM WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING!”

The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine condemns this disgraceful decision of the IPC General Assembly, which discredits the International Paralympic Committee, and calls on all national Paralympic committees worldwide and the global Paralympic community to unite efforts in the struggle for peace, against war, and against the admission into the International Paralympic Committee of those who encroach upon the fundamental human right — the right to life; those who destroy the high ideals of the global Paralympic Movement!