Plane Carrying Expelled Russian Diplomats Leaves U.S. For Moscow

NEW YORK - A Russian government plane carrying Russian diplomats expelled by the United States has left New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport en route To Moscow, according to Flight Radar24 data.

'This plane will return to their homeland [the] Russian diplomats, whom the U.S. Government has declared persona non grata', said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel Saturday.

CNN previously reported the U.S. government approved the flight chartered by the Russian government to facilitate the departure of Russian United Nations Mission personnel.

A statement from the U.S. Mission to the U.N. late February called the 12 Russian diplomats 'intelligence operatives...who abused their privileges of residency in the U.S. by engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security'.