On the heels of severe backlash within the Athletes Village, organizers of the Winter Paralympics Thursday about-faced and expelled Russian and Belarusian athletes from the games, which kick off on Friday. The move will jettison 71 Russian and 12 Belarusian athletes. The action comes less than a day after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said it would permit athletes from the two nations to compete—under the condition that they do so as neutral athletes, sans any national symbols whatsoever after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The war has now come to these games and behind the scen…