Spy poisoning row: Expelled US diplomats leave Moscow

Dozens of US diplomats, who were expelled by Russia over the poisoning of a former spy in Britain, reportedly left the embassy compound in Moscow on Thursday.

They have been ordered to leave Russia before April 5, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Several media reports stated that buses started to arrive at the embassy's territory at around 4 am Moscow time.

The convoy of vehicles left the diplomatic mission by 7 am Moscow time.

Retired military intelligence officer Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury city centre on March 4.

On March 26, Washington announced its decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats and close Russia's Consulate General in Seattle as a retaliatory move to the incident of poisoning Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and her daughter.

Russia, in response, had made an announcement of an expulsion of 58 diplomats from the US Embassy in Moscow and two employees of the US Consulate General in Yekaterinburg, the report said.

Furthermore, the closure of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg is also in order.

--ANI