Russian, Belarusian athletes barred from Winter Paralympics

Russian and Belarusian Paralympic athletes were barred on Thursday from competing in the upcoming Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In order to "preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants, we have decided to refuse the athlete entries from RPC (Russian Paralympic Committee) and NPC (National Paralympic Committee) Belarus," Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), was quoted as saying in a statement by the IPC.

Though "sport and politics should not mix ... the war has now come to these Games," Parsons said, according to the statement, released after a special meeting of the committee.

"To the Para athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic Truce. You are victims of your governments' actions," he added.

Parsons underlined that the IPC prioritizes "Athlete welfare."

"As a result of today’s decision 83 Para athletes are directly impacted by this decision. However, if RPC and NPC Belarus remain here in Beijing then nations will likely withdraw. We will likely not have a viable Games. If this were to happen, the impact would be far wider reaching."

The Paralympic Winter Games are set to take place in Beijing, China on March 4-13.

Over 2,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its attacks on Feb. 24, according to Ukrainian authorities.

As the war entered its eighth day on Thursday, the UN Refugee Agency said some 1 million have been forced to flee from Ukraine to neighboring countries.