Ukraine released a new stamp to support its Olympic athletes as it sent its smallest-ever national team to the Games in Paris amid the nearly 29-month war with Russia.

Only 140 Ukrainian athletes will participate in the Olympic Games in Paris, the lowest number ever in the history of Ukrainian participation in the Games.

A total of 10,500 athletes from more than 200 countries are expected to participate in 2024.

The international multi-sport event will take place from July 26 to August 11, with some competitions starting as early as July 24.

The 2024 Olympic Games will be the third time Paris has hosted the Games and the first in 100 years. Although Paris is the main host city, events will be held in 16 other cities across mainland France.

For the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics, the opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium. The opening ceremony will take place in the heart of the city, along its main artery: the Seine.

What is unique about Paris 2024 is that it will be the first Olympic Games in history to achieve numerical gender parity on the playing field. According to news reports, there will be an equal number of female and male athletes competing in the world’s largest sporting event.

Vlada Kharkova, a fencer who launched the Ukrainian Olympic stamp in central Kiev along with other athletes and officials, told Reuters: “We spent countless hours without electricity, without water, in darkness, in cold, in heat. I think we went through everything.”

The fencer added: “These circumstances have made us stronger and we are ready to show the whole world that, despite everything, we are Ukrainians and that as a Ukrainian nation we are unbreakable.”

The Russian invasion killed athletes and coaches, forced many to flee the fighting, and damaged sports facilities. Regular air raid alerts and long power outages caused by Russian bombing disrupted training.

A set of six stamps shows sports in which Ukraine has previously won prizes and medals, including fencing, judo, tennis, canoeing, weightlifting and shooting.

Data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Sports shows that 479 athletes and coaches have been killed since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. More than 500 sports facilities have been destroyed, including 15 Olympic training bases.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus be banned from international competitions. However, they have since been allowed to qualify for the Games in Paris as neutral participants.

A total of 25 athletes from Russia and Belarus have been cleared to compete in the Paris Olympics, which start on Friday.

The purpose of the Olympic Games is to create a peaceful and better world and to show our youth how to compete with a spirit of solidarity and fair play.

(With input from Reuters)

Members of the Ukrainian Olympic team Ihor Trunov, Vlada Kharkova, Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko and Nataliya Skakun, as well as the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Vadym Gutzeit and Ukrposhta CEO Igor Smelyansky leave their mark on 2024 Olympics Postmark issued by the Ukrainian Postal Service at the Olympic House in Kiev, Ukraine, July 19, 2024. REUTERS/