PARIS - Russia's response to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC)decision to ban its athletes from the Paris Games' opening ceremony parade is "grotesque", French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea Castera said on Thursday.

The IOC announced on Tuesday a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes taking part as neutral competitors in this year's Olympics from the opening ceremony parade due to the war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".