Ukraine dismisses complaints over team’s uniform at Paralympics games in Paris
Source: Valeriy Sushkevych, National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine
Kyiv had to wrangle with International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for two months over the official uniform of Ukraine’s team at the Paralympic Games in Paris as international sport chiefs believed its design was “too political”, according to Valeryi Sushkevych of Ukraine’s National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine.
In his post on social media, he claimed that IPC officials had reservations over the image of the Ukrainian map on the sport uniform. The IPC also raised concerns over the “military-themed” color of the uniforms. Ukraine’s officials found solid arguments to prove the “legal and cultural significance of their design”.
“We were able to assert our legal rights and the Ukrainian perception of the colors in our uniform! And you, our supporters in Ukraine, will undoubtedly understand the deep, modern, and national philosophy behind our uniforms on the world’s biggest sporting stage of the quadrennial!” Sushkevych said.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.