Winter Paralympics: Milan Cortina Games to open amid war in Middle East, boycott over Russian flag

VERONA, Italy (AP) — The Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics will officially open later Friday amid the tensions of war in the Middle East and with some countries intending to boycott the opening ceremony because of the return of the Russian flag to the global sports stage.

Ukraine is leading the list of countries not attending the opening ceremony in Verona to protest the decision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to allow Russian athletes to compete under their own flag and with their national anthem. The Russian flag hasn’t been flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, while the national anthem has not been heard at any Olympics or Paralympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Arena di Verona, marking the first time a Paralympic ceremony is held at a UNESCO World Heritage site. The ancient Arena has been retrofitted with new wheelchair ramps and accessible restrooms along with other safety upgrades.

The Milan Cortina Games mark the 50th anniversary of the Winter Paralympics. More than 600 athletes will compete across 79 events in six sports. It is the biggest Winter Paralympics ever, with a record female participation, according to the IPC.

Para cross-country skier Aboulfazl Khatibi is expected to be the only athlete from Iran participating in the Games that begin less than a week after the United States and Israel launched their military attack.

Khatibi was announced as Iran’s flagbearer but he will not actually carry the flag — volunteers will be handed the task for all nations because not all flagbearers will be able to attend the ceremony for logistics and training issues.

Many athletes will miss the opening ceremony as they are located in different competing clusters across Italy. The curling events began on Wednesday.

China arrives looking to establish itself as the main Paralympic powerhouse. The Chinese have topped the medal count in the Summer Paralympics every time since 2004, and four years ago topped the Winter Games for the first time with a record-setting performance.

AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games

Dancers perform during the opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Verona, Italy, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Athletes from Belarus walk during the opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Verona, Italy, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Athletes from the United States enter during the opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Verona, Italy, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Athletes from Russia walk during the opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Verona, Italy, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Athletes from Russia enter during the opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Verona, Italy, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Polina Rozkova of Latvia, rides to the position during a wheelchair curling mixed doubles round robin session against Great Britain at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Italy's Orietta Berto, left, and Paolo Ioriatti compete against China during a wheelchair curling mixed doubles match at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Polina Rozkova of Latvia, pushes a stone during a wheelchair curling mixed doubles round robin session against Great Britain at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Paolo Ioriatti, left, of Italy, and Jinqiao Yang, right, of China, look at curling stones during a wheelchair curling mixed doubles at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Athletes compete during wheelchair curling mixed doubles matches at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, according to two officials familiar with U.S. intelligence on the matter.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that the U.S. intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is directing Iran on what to do with the information as the U.S. and Israel continue their bombardment and Iran fires retaliatory salvos at American assets and allies in the Persian Gulf.

Still, it's the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war that the U.S. and Israel launched on Iran a week ago. Russia is in the rare club of countries that maintains friendly relations with Tehran, which has faced years of isolation over its nuclear program and its support of proxy groups that have wreaked havoc in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

The White House downplayed reports that Russia was sharing intelligence with Iran about U.S. targets in the region. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday told reporters that “it clearly is not making any difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them.”

Leavitt declined to say if Trump had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the reported intelligence sharing or whether he believed Russia should face repercussions, saying she would let the president speak to that himself.

Asked whether Russia would go beyond political support and offer military assistance to Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there has been no such request from Tehran.

“We are in dialogue with the Iranian side, with representatives of the Iranian leadership, and will certainly continue this dialogue,” he said Friday.

Pushed on whether Moscow has provided any military or intelligence assistance to Tehran since the Iran war’s start, he refrained from comment.

Russia has tightened its relationship with Iran as it looked for badly needed missiles and drones to utilize in its four-year war against Ukraine.

The Biden administration declassified intelligence findings that showed Iran supplies Moscow with attack drones and has assisted the Kremlin with building a drone-manufacturing factory.

The former U.S. administration also accused Iran of transferring short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Details about the U.S. intelligence were first reported by The Washington Post.

Asked whether the revelation had shaken Trump’s faith in Putin’s ability to cut any peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war, Leavitt said, “I think the president would say that peace is still an achievable objective with respect to the Russia-Ukraine war."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones. Tehran has been supplying Russia with Shaheds for its war on Ukraine and are now utilizing them in retaliatory attacks throughout the Gulf.

Zelenskyy says that he's spoken to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.

“Ukraine knows how to defend against Shahed drone attacks because our cities have faced them almost every night," said Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna. “When our partners are in need, we are always ready to help.”

Trump, who has struggled to fulfill a campaign pledge to end the Russia-Ukraine war, has had an up-and-down relationship with Zelenskyy. He's frequently pressured the Ukrainian leader to heed Russian demands, including that Kyiv concede Ukrainian territory still in its control.

With the Pentagon facing questions about whether the Iran war is depleting U.S. stockpiles, Trump this week grumbled that former President Joe Biden provided billions in high-end weaponry to Ukraine and failed to replenish U.S. reserves.

Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt walks to speak with reporters at the White House, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Gleb Nikitin at the Kremlin, in , Russia, Friday, March 6, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)