To write
– AFP 04/16/2022 at 17:43, updated on 04/16/2022 at 18:05
Around 137 passengers, “persona non grata” with their families and relatives, boarded the plane in the afternoon, which was to take off immediately afterwards.
A special plane chartered by Moscow was at Roissy airport on Saturday to return to Russia Russian diplomats expelled by France over the war in Ukraine, an airport source has told AFP. About 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 said.
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People go under good escort
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“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. France earlier this month announced the expulsion of 41 Russian diplomats it said were involved in espionage activities under the cover of their embassy, saying the sanction was part of a “European approach”.
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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.