Russian athletes allowed to compete at Winter Paralympics despite Vladimir Putin’s ‘breach of the Olympic Truce’

Russian athletes will still be able to participate in the upcoming Winter Paralympics Games in Beijing, despite the International Olympic Committee criticising Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and labelling it a ‘breach of the Olympic truce’.

Military forces crossed the border from Russia into Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning and began violent assaults on a variety of cities, with shelling and gunfire heard within the Kyiv area by Friday.

The so-called ‘Olympic Truce’ began seven days before the Olympic Games opened in Beijing and is due to run until after the end of the Paralympics. The tradition dated back to the 9th century and aims to promote pace and collaboration during the period each Games take place.

In a statement released on Thursday the IOC said that the Truce had been broken by Russia, and condemned the violence the country is unleashing on Ukraine and its people.

‘The International Olympic Committee strongly condemns the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian government,’ the statement reads. ‘The respective UN (United Nations) resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 December 2021 by consensus of all 193 UN Member States.’

The UN resolution referred to in the statement demands member states cooperate with the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee “to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation.”

Russian platoon 'surrenders saying they didn't think they had been sent to kill'

Turkish ship hit by bomb off coast of Ukraine

Ukraine expected to fall by Monday despite entire country being mobilised

The IOC also said it has established a taskforce which will ‘coordinate humanitarian assistance to members of the Olympic Community in Ukraine where