World

All Russian Diplomats Expelled From US Return to Moscow

On Saturday night, two Russian Ilyushin Il-96-600 passenger aircraft carrying the Russian diplomats expelled from the United States, departed from Dulles International Airport in Washington.
Sputnik

The second plane with Russian diplomats expelled from the United States landed on Sunday at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The plane carrying diplomats with their families, including those who worked at the UN headquarters in New York, landed at around 1 p.m. local time (10:00 GMT).

Earlier on Sunday Russian plane carrying the first group of diplomats expelled from the United States over Skripal case has arrived in Moscow.

READ MORE: Russian Envoy to US: National Flag Will Be Fluttering Above Closed Consulate

The Russian Ilyushin Il-96-600 passenger airliners, which is part of the Rossiya special flight detachment that provides services to state officials, in particular, to the Russian Foreign Ministry, departed from the Washington Dulles International Airport, carrying the diplomats with their famly mambers arrived in Terminal 2 of the Vnukovo airport.

A total of 171 Russian citizens left the United States on board two flights. The first one left from Washington, while the second one landed in New York to take Russians working there and continued its flight to Moscow.

On Monday, the US Administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats and closed the Russian Consulate General in Seattle after Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who worked for UK intelligence, and his daughter Yulia were exposed to what UK experts claim was an A234 nerve agent.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in response, announced an expulsion of 58 diplomats from the US Embassy in Moscow and two employees from the US Consulate General in Yekaterinburg, as well as the closure of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg.

Discuss