Degtyarev stated the importance of the example of the Paralympians for the veterans of his

Russian Paralympians Oksana Savchenko and Mikhail Lysov, by their example, support veterans of the special military operation (SVO) who have been injured. This was announced on May 22 by Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation and head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

"Your example is uplifting these days for veterans of a special military operation who are injured. Thank you so much for the will to win and for glorifying our country," he said during the ceremony of awarding the Russian Paralympic Committee's "Return to Life" award.

The Minister thanked the Russian Paralympians for their will to win and their contribution to the development of Russian sports. He also said that since the beginning of the year, 227 Russian athletes have competed in international competitions under the Russian flag and anthem at 22 tournaments, winning 117 medals, 59 of which are gold.

According to Degtyarev, the sports community continues to work to protect the rights of Russian athletes at the international level.

The Magnificent six: the Russian national team is the third in the medal standings of the 2026 Paralympics

Our team takes away eight awards of the highest dignity from Italy with the most truncated composition.

On May 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the performance of the Russian national team at the 2026 Paralympics a triumph. He recalled that Russia's third overall team place was won by a significantly outnumbered squad of its main rivals. In addition, the head of state called it an outstanding result.