Skeleton luge competitor Vladyslav Heraskevych has been disqualified from the games in Italy after wearing a helmet displaying images of Ukrainian athletes who have been killed as a result of Russia's ongoing war of aggression, now nearly into its fifth year.

Paet joined fellow MEPs in issuing an appeal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reinstate Heraskevych, and for him to have the right to commemorate those who have died in the war.

"Given Ukraine's suffering, Heraskevych must have the right to commemorate Ukrainians, his fellow athletes, who have lost their lives because of Russia's war of aggression," Paet said.

"Together with my colleagues, we believe this is primarily an act of remembrance, not a political act, and the IOC must not prohibit it," he added.

The MEP's joint appeal read: "Commemorating athletes who have died in a war that violates international law is not propaganda or a political demonstration. Rather, it is a gesture of remembrance that is in line with the values of the Olympic movement itself."

The IOC on Tuesday issued a warning to Heraskevych, 27, competing in the men's skeleton luge, telling him to cease and desist from wearing the "offending" item of sportswear after he had done so at a training session in Cortina Monday.

Heraskevych, who was flagbearer for Ukraine at last Friday's opening ceremony, remained defiant and wore the helmet again at a subsequent session on Wednesday, leading to the IOC removing his Olympic accreditation, meaning he had to leave the Olympic village as soon as possible.

The BBC reported that the athlete was offered the option of wearing a black mourning armband during competition, and also to display his helmet in the media zone, at press conferences and on social media, but not during competition or practice sessions ahead of competition.

"I find it hard to put this situation into words. I feel an inner emptiness," Heraskevych said on Thursday, as quoted by The Guardian, adding that his next step would be to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The IOC said the athlete's actions violated Article 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, which states: "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

On Thursday morning, IOC President Kirsty Coventry visited Heraskevych in an attempt to reach compromise, but with no successful outcome. A tearful Coventry said: "No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it's a powerful message, it's a message of remembrance, of memory. The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly we've not been able to find that solution," she said. "I really wanted to see him race, It's been an emotional morning."

Sport shouldn't mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors. Unfortunately, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise. This is certainly… pic.twitter.com/gGXizj5C5m

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 12, 2026

"The IOC very much wanted Heraskevych to compete, which is why the IOC sat down with him to find the most appropriate way for him to commemorate his compatriots who lost their lives due to Russia's invasion," the IOC itself said via a press release.

Heraskevych was the first Ukrainian to represent Ukraine in Skeleton at the 2018 games in South Korea, and at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, just days before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia began, the athlete, at the end of a run, held up a sign in English which read "No war in Ukraine."

While he was not top 10 in the discipline at the previous games, he had been tipped for medal contention this time.

U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov after Tuesday's short program displayed a picture of his parents, who perished in the Potomac River mid-air collision just over a year ago, and was not censured. Heraskevych himself previously pointed to the example of German weightlifter Matthias Steiner, who held up a photo of his deceased wife after his Olympic victory in Beijing back in 2008.

The IOC says the situations are different; in the Steiner case, the rules on such things have evolved since then, and in the case of Naumov, this was seen as a "very emotional, very human, spontaneous gesture," which "highlights what we are saying, this Ukrainian athlete, he can do the same," an IOC spokesperson said.

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