A Russian plane landed in the United States on Saturday to pick up 12 members of the Russian Federation’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations accused of “espionage” by Washington and ordered their deportation, authorities said.
The United States has closed its airspace to all Russian aircraft following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last week.
However, an Ilyushin IL-96 aircraft landed yesterday at Washington International Airport, according to the specialized website Flight Aware, which monitors air traffic.
“The US government has given the green light to (go to the country) this aircraft chartered by the Russian government to facilitate the departure of the diplomats of the Russian mission to the United Nations,” a State Department spokesman told AFP.
The approval was given “exceptionally” in order to ensure the departure of the diplomats and their families “on the date imposed”, added the representative of the American diplomacy.
The United States announced on Monday that it was expelling “12 agents” of Russian intelligence to the Russian mission, who “abused” their diplomatic status in the country by engaging in “espionage activities.”
The next day, for the same reason, he ordered the departure from the country before March 7 of a Russian citizen who worked at the UN Secretariat.
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, has denounced Washington’s “hostile” move against his country.
The Russian delegation to the UN has about a hundred members, according to a Russian diplomatic source.
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