Ukrainian biathlete withdraws from Paralympics event after dad was captured by Russian troops

Ukrainian biathlete Anastasiia Laletina pulled out of her competition on Tuesday at the Beijing Paralympics after she learned that her father was captured by Russian troops back home in Ukraine, according to USA Today’s Chris Bumbaca.

Laletina withdrew from the biathlon middle distance sitting event in China on Tuesday, team spokesperson Nataliia Harach said. Laletina’s father, who is fighting Russia with the Ukrainian army, was apparently taken prisoner by Russian soldiers.

“They beat him,” Harach said, via USA Today.

It’s unclear where Laletina’s father was captured specifically or what his status is. The Ukrainian government has required that all men aged 18 to 60 stay in the country to help and fight Russia, which invaded late last month.

Laletina, 19, was also tended to by a team doctor on Tuesday. She was raised in Chernihiv, a city just north of Kyiv near the Russian and Belarusian border.

Laletina isn’t the only Ukrainian Paralympic athlete impacted by Russia’s invasion. An assistant coach’s home was bombed recently in Kharkiv, Harach told USA Today, and biathlete Dmytro Suiarko’s home was destroyed by Russian shelling

Suiarko learned that his home was destroyed just one day before he won the bronze medal in the middle distance vision impaired race. Ukraine swept the podium in the event.

It’s unclear if Suiarko’s family is safe, or how their home in Chernihiv is.

The sports world has issued countless sanctions across the board against Russia since it invaded Ukraine. The Paralympics banned both Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Games earlier this month after backlash.