Igor Lebedev , a deputy chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of the Russian State Duma, described the IOC's decision as an offence to Russia at the highest level, Russian sport federations also condemned the IOC decision. Elena Sutormina, the Chairwoman of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Commission on Public Diplomacy believed the IOC's announcement that Russian athletes could sign up for the 2018 Winter Olympics as independent athletes was a political intervention.
