The plane departed from Washington’s Dulles
International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
MOSCOW, January 2. /TASS/. The plane of the Russian government’s Rossiya Special Flight Detachment, carrying Russian diplomats who were declared persona non grata in the United States, landed in Moscow early on Monday.
The plane with the diplomats and their families on board
departed from Washington’s Dulles International Airport on
Sunday afternoon.
On December 29, the outgoing US administration slapped
new sanctions on Moscow over the alleged hacking
into US political
institutions. These sanctions apply to several Russian companies, the Federal
Security Service and the Main Intelligence Agency of Russia’s General Staff.
Besides that, the US authorities declared 35 Russian diplomats persona non
grata and shut down two recreational compounds in New York and Maryland owned
by the Russian government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would
not "stoop to the level of the so-called ‘catfight’" and expel US
diplomats from Russia in response to "unfriendly actions by the outgoing
US administration." He also invited children of US diplomats accredited in
Moscow to visit the famed New Year and Christmas celebrations for children in the
Kremlin.
Children of the expelled Russian diplomats were invited
to attend the Kremlin party as well, the Kremlin said early on Tuesday.
Source: ITAR-TASS 02-01-2017
