VERONA /Italy/, March 7. /TASS/. The flame of the XIV Winter Paralympic Games in Italy was lit during the opening ceremony in Verona.

Participating in the athletes’ parade for the Russian team were skier Anastasia Bagiyan and her guide Sergey Sinyakin, the head of the Russian Paralympic Committee Pavel Rozhkov, and the delegation attache Yekaterina Pronina. The Russian flag was carried by an Italian volunteer named Anna. As TASS previously reported, the decision for volunteers to carry the countries’ flags at the Paralympics opening ceremony was made because not all flag bearers would be able to attend the event.

The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games will end on March 15. Six Russian Paralympians will compete under the national flag and to the tune of the country’s anthem for the first time in 12 years due to previously imposed sanctions.