The 23 diplomats expelled from Britain in response to Russia's suspected nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter officially left the U.K. Tuesday.
Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury, England on March 4.
CNN:
Around 80 people, including the diplomats' families, flew out of Stansted Airport near London on Tuesday to the Russian capital.
Reuters video showed a small crowd gathered outside the Russian embassy, hugging and waving goodbye to others boarding vehicles with diplomatic plates. They were later filmed boarding a Russian Air Force plane, bid farewell by Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alexander Yakovenko.
"Unfortunately it is very sad that the British government decided to behave like that, to treat us like that," Yakovenko said from the tarmac, adding that it was a "violation of international law."
The diplomats' departure comes on the same day President Trump called Vladimir Putin, against the advice of his national security advisors, and congratulated him on Sunday's election victory. The White House says the president made no mention of the U.K. poisoning during the call.
Russian diplomats expelled from UK head back to Moscow (CNN)