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Biathlete Grygorii Vovchynskyi put in a superb display to win Ukraine’s first gold medal of the Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

There were also silvers for his team-mates Liudmyla Liashenko and Taras Rad.

The Ukraine team travelled to China despite the Russian invasion of their country, which began on 24 February.

Vovchynskyi, who won gold in the long distance event in Sochi in 2014, beat Germany’s Marco Maier by 45.8 seconds.

Liashenko, 28, won her fifth Games medal in the women’s sprint standing where China’s Guo Yujie, 17, emerged victorious.

It was a second Paralympic medal for Rad, 23, following his middle distance gold from Pyeongchang, after he finished 17.5secs adrift of China’s Liu Zixu in the men’s sprint seated event.

Before the Games, Valeriy Sushkevych, the Ukrainian Paralympic chief, said his team’s presence at the Games was a “symbol that Ukraine is alive” and that it was a “miracle” they made it to the competition.

They were warmly welcomed into the Bird’s Nest Stadium for Friday’s opening ceremony.

The Russian Paralympic Committee and Belarus were banned from competing.