Diplomats expelled by US reach Russia

MOSCOW:A plane carrying 35 diplomats expelled from the United States over Russia’s alleged meddling in the US presidential election arrived in Moscow early today, Russian state television reported.

A Russian Il-96 plane carrying the diplomats and their families landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport at 2:05 am local time after having taken off from Washington yesterday, state television said. State television showed the diplomats and their families gathering their luggage on the tarmac in the rain before heading inside the terminal.

US intelligence says the Kremlin ordered a hack-and-release of Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton campaign staff emails in abidtoputDonaldTrumpinthe White House. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the allegations. The expulsions of the diplomats -- described as intelligence operatives based at the Russian embassy in Washington and the consulate in San Francisco -were part of a package of sanctions ordered by President Barack Obama Thursday in the final weeks of his administration.

Obama also ordered the closure of two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland that the United States says were used “for intelligence-related purposes.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week rebuked the outgoing president for “unfriendly steps” amounting to “a provocation aimed at further undermining Russian-American relations.”