The All-Ukrainian Trade Union of Defenders of Ukraine, athletes, and workers in various sectors express their strong support for Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych following his disqualification at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan.
We are convinced: the memory of the fallen is not politics. It is humanity. It is dignity. It is a duty.

We remind that Vladyslav’s helmet featured images of 22 Ukrainian athletes who died as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Among them were weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, ice hockey player Oleksii Loinov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diving coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksii Khabarov, and dance sports athlete Daria Kurdel, among others.
Despite the ban from the International Olympic Committee, Vladyslav competed wearing the “helmet of memory.” He chose honor over silence. And it was precisely for this that he was disqualified.

The All-Ukrainian Trade Union of Defenders of Ukraine, athletes, and workers across sectors calls on the international sports community to reconsider decisions that punish the honoring of the fallen. Respect for war victims does not violate Olympic principles — it upholds them. Solidarity with Vladyslav Heraskevych is solidarity with every family that has lost their children, brothers, sisters, and friends.

Memory is not protest.
Memory is responsibility.
Glory to Ukraine!