On 7 September 2016, as a member of the country's Ministry of Sport, he protested the ban of the Russian team from the Paralympic Games over the doping scandal during the entry of Belarus at the 2016 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony's parade of nations by holding a Russian flag as a display of solidarity to its neighbour. The Russian flag was quickly confiscated by officials and security, and after he was identified, Fomochkin's accreditation was cancelled by the IPC for violating policies which forbid political protests and gestures.