MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Four out of six Russian Para athletes have already received Italian entry visas to participate in the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy next month, President of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) Pavel Rozhkov said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Rozhkov told TASS that six Russian Para athletes have received bipartite invitations to the 2026 Winter Paralympics. The invitations were extended to three-time Paralympic Champion in alpine skiing Aleksey Bugayev, two-time World Champion in alpine skiing Varvara Voronchikhina, multiple World Champion in para cross-country skiing Ivan Golubkov, World Championship medalist in para cross-country skiing Anastasia Bagiyan and her guide Sergey Sinyakin, and para snowboarders Dmitry Fadeyev and Philipp Shebbo.
"Athletes and coaches in cross-country skiing and alpine skiing have already been issued entry visas," Rozhkov told journalists. "Issues of a solely organizational nature [regarding entry visas] still pend for snowboarders."
"They are scheduled to visit the Consular General’s Office of the Italian Embassy on February 19," the RPC chief stated. "I hope that, like the rest of the delegation’s members, they won't have any problems."
The individual and contractual nature of the bipartite invitations from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) distinguishes them from regular quotas. Regular quotas are distributed automatically based on qualifying results and ratings, while bipartite invitations are issued under special agreements between the IPC and the National Paralympic Committees. Bipartite invitations provide a loophole to bypass standard selection procedures if an athlete earned rating points in individual starts but has not met all qualifying criteria. They are granted in exceptional cases, such as for athletes from countries facing restrictions. The regular quota is strictly limited by the number of slots per country and sport, while bipartite invitations are submitted individually before the deadline and approved by the IPC based on achievements.
2026 Winter Paralympic Games
On January 20, the IPC revised the decision regarding the admission of the Russian national team to the 2026 Paralympics, allowing cross-country skiers, snowboarders, and alpine skiers to apply for invitations. In September 2025, the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee fully reinstated the Paralympic Committees of Russia and Belarus.
However, on October 23, 2025, the IPC press office announced that Russians would not be competing at the 2026 Paralympic Games due to the stance assumed by certain sports federations. In particular, the Council of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) decided not to allow Russians to participate in international competitions, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The RPC later successfully challenged that decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games will be held in Italy on March 6-15.