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Lithuania’s LRT Boycotts Winter Paralympics Opening Over Russian, Belarusian Participation
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT has announced it will not air the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games in protest of the participation of Russian and Belarusian representatives.
According to a statement reported on March 3 the decision was made in solidarity with public broadcasters in Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.
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“We cannot agree with the International Paralympic Committee's decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their countries' flags and are joining the initiative of Baltic broadcasters not to broadcast the opening ceremony,” stated LRT Deputy General Director Gytis Oganauskas.
The policy regarding these two nations has shifted since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. While they were banned from the 2022 Paralympics, their athletes participated as neutrals during the Summer Games in Paris two years later.
In late February, the IPC authorized six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete in the Milan-Cortina Games under their national flags.
At the same time, Estonia’s public broadcaster, ERR, has stated it will not air competitions from the 2026 Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes are permitted to compete under their national flags.
Rivo Saarna, head of ERR’s sports editorial department, expressed the broadcaster's opposition to the participation of these athletes under the flags of aggressor states, noting that the organization condemns the normalization of such actions through the Olympic and Paralympic movements.
While the competitions themselves may be pulled from the schedule, ERR currently plans to broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies. During these events, the broadcaster intends to provide viewers with context regarding the decisions made by international sports governing bodies and the background of the ongoing war.
The Winter Paralympics feature 665 athletes competing for 79 sets of medals. The event is scheduled to continue through March 15.
Earlier, Ukraine has assembled its largest-ever delegation for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games. The team consists of a record 35 participants, including 25 athletes and 10 guides.
At these Games, Ukrainian representatives will compete in four disciplines: para biathlon, para cross-country skiing, para alpine skiing—marking a return to the sport for the first time since 2014—and para snowboarding, which the country last contested in 2018.
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-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
