MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his congratulations to national winners of gold medals at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy Varvara Voronchikhina and Anastasia Bagiyan, the Kremlin’s press office said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We are proud of you, your teammates, who worthily perform under the national flag of the country," the Russian president stated.
"Thanks to excellent preparation, strength of spirit, and character, you have added a gold medal to Russia’s tally," the message reads.
"This confident victory is a worthy contribution to the development of national and global Paralympic sport," Putin continued. "I am convinced it will inspire you to new and brilliant achievements in life and sport. Keep it up!"
Earlier in the day, Russian cross-country skier Bagiyan won gold at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy in women’s sprint race in the NS1 category (vision impaired). The Russian Paralympian with her guide Sergey Sinyakin raced the distance in 3 minutes 16.1 seconds to win the gold.
It was Russia’s second gold medal as of today at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in addition to two previously won bronze medals.
Russian female alpine country skier Voronchikhina previously won one gold and one bronze in women’s super giant and downhill events respectively and alpine skier Alexey Bugayev took the bronze in men’s downhill.
The Russian team is currently 10th place in the overall medals standings with two gold and two bronze medals. The top three are currently China (nine gold, six silver and eight bronze), followed in the 2nd place by Austria (4-1-3) and the United States rounding up the trio (3-5-2).
The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games are held in Italy on March 6-15. The Russian Paralympians were allowed to compete at the upcoming Winter Paralympics under the national flag and to the tune of the country’s anthem for the first time in the 12-year period due to previously imposed sanctions.
President of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) Pavel Rozhkov told TASS in February that six Russian Para athletes had received bipartite invitations to the 2026 Winter Paralympics.
The invitations were extended to three-time Paralympic Champion in alpine skiing Alexey Bugaev, 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 Monzer.