Russian Plane Arrives U.S. To Evacuate 35 Expelled Diplomats & Families (Photos)

As promised by the Russian government, a plane has landed at the Dulles International Airport in Virginia, to transport the 35 Russian diplomats and their families, who were expelled by President Obama for their alleged meddling in the presidential election, back to their country.

The aircraft was spotted at the airport in Sterling, just outside of Washington, DC, on Saturday.


The special flight arrived to pickup the Russian diplomats from across the country who were labeled 'persona non grata' by Obama and given 72hours to leave the US.

U-Haul trucks were seen pulling up to the aircraft as it was packed down with the diplomats' belongings. Crews worked to pack the truck loads of boxes onto the plane.

The Kremlin addressed the expulsion on Friday and said they would send the plane to the US to pick up the expelled diplomats, ensuring that they are out of the country by Obama's New Year's Day deadline.

In their announcement on Twitter, the Kremlin included a picture of the Rossiya Special Flight Squadron aircraft that landed in Virginia. The plane, an Ilyushin Il-96, is part of the fleet of aircraft which ferry Russian President Vladimir Putin, his ministers and senior politicians around Russia and beyond.

The flight to Russia from the US will be close to 12 hours as the expelled diplomats rush to leave America by Obama's New Year's Day deadline.

Crews are seen working to load up the plane with boxes packed with the belongings of the diplomats and their families.