Olympic skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has returned home to Ukraine and shared plans to raise funds for the families of the athletes and coaches depicted on the helmet that got him disqualified from the Milan Cortina Games.

MILAN (AP) — Anastasia Kucherova, a Russian living in Milan, voiced her opposition to Russia’s war against Ukraine with a highly symbolic, if at first anonymous, act: Carrying the Ukraine team placard during the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov — the owner of the Shakhtar Donetsk soccer club and the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol — gave the money to Heraskevych from his charity foundation. The amount is equal to what the country’s Olympic gold medalists would get.

Skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych late on Monday said he had returned to Ukraine after being excluded from the Olympic competitions. In a video posted on X, the 27-year-old appeared to record himself in darkness in central Kiev.

Ukrainian figure skater Kyrylo Marsak wrapped up his Olympics with a disappointing men's free skate Friday night, then had to endure waiting for his score while Russian athlete Petr Gumennik sat in the leader's chair about 10 feet away from him.

Ukraine said Wednesday that its officials will not attend the Winter Paralympics next month over the decision by organizers to allow a handful of Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their