ITALY, Mar. 16 — On Mar. 14, a Kharkiv athlete, Liudmyla Liashenko, won a silver medal at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in cross-country skiing, said the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration.

10 teams joined the cross-country skiing competition, including Pavlo Bal, Taras Rad, Oleksandra Kononova, and Liudmyla Liashenko from Ukraine. Each athlete completed the 2.5-kilometer (1.6-mile) course.

Liashenko was a long-time leader on the final stage of the competition, but the athlete from the United States outran her. Ukraine finished second with a 12.5-second delay.

In total, the Ukrainian team won 19 medals at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, including three gold, eight silver, and eight bronze, said the Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne Sport.

The Ukrainian team boycotted the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympics due to the permission granted to Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own flags, said the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine identified six more Russian athletes with disabilities, who combined their sports careers with service in the Russian armed forces.

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