Russia expels 60 U.S diplomats

U.S. diplomatic staff began moving out items from the St. Petersburg consulate Friday after Moscow ordered the closing of the consulate and the expulsion of 60 U.S. diplomats on Thursday.

People could be seen carrying bags and furniture out of the consulate gates and loading the items into cars.

Russia demanded the U.S. diplomats leave by April 5 in a retaliatory move against Washington which expelled a similar number of Russian diplomats over the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia in England.

On Friday, Russia expelled a further 59 diplomats from 23 countries saying it was responding to what it called baseless demands for scores of its own diplomats to leave a slew of mostly Western countries that have joined London and Washington in censuring Moscow.