On 28 August, Yurii Muzyka, First Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, took part in a panel discussion on the use of Paralympic sport for the integration of people with disabilities at the high-level International Disability Inclusion Conference, held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.

In his speech, Yurii Muzyka expressed his gratitude for the solidarity with Ukraine and Ukrainian athletes since the first days of russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

He stressed that it was thanks to the support of friendly countries that Ukrainian athletes could train in safe conditions and represent Ukraine on international sports arenas.

Yurii Muzyka focused on the losses suffered by the sphere of physical culture and sports since the beginning of russia’s full-scale military aggression, as Ukraine’s sports community has already lost about 500 athletes and coaches, and 520 sports infrastructure facilities have been destroyed or damaged.

The First Deputy Minister stressed the invariability of Ukraine’s position that any russian or belarusian athlete who supported the war or belonged to the security forces should be excluded from international sport as long as the military aggression against Ukraine continued.

Valerii Sushkevych, President of the National Committee of Sports for the Disabled of Ukraine, also took part in the Conference, in particular, in the ministerial session dedicated to the use of Paralympic sport for the integration of people with disabilities.