Almost 140 Russian nationals were expelled. Earlier this month, France announced the expulsion of 41 Russian diplomats involved in espionage activities.
A special plane chartered by Moscow was at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport on Saturday to bring back nearly 140 Russian nationals expelled from France to Russia, an airport source has told AFP.
137 passengers, “persona non grata” with their families and loved ones, boarded the plane in the afternoon, which was scheduled to take off with momentum, the source reported.
“The Russians sent a plane. Since they have no right to fly over France, it was the subject of a diplomatic agreement. People are leaving under good escort,” he told AFP.
Expulsion of 41 Russian diplomats
France earlier this month announced the expulsion of 41 Russian diplomats allegedly involved in espionage activities under the cover of their embassy, saying the sanction was part of a “European approach”.
Many other European countries such as Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Greece and Croatia have massively expelled Russian diplomats since the invasion of Ukraine began.
In some cases, these expulsions were to officially respond to the outbreak of war in Ukraine by Russian forces and the abuses they have been accused of by Westerners. In several other cases, they were accompanied by allegations of espionage.