Plane with expelled Russian diplomats leaves US: Russian media

A plane carrying 35 Russian diplomats expelled from the United States over Moscow's alleged interference in the presidential election took off from Washington on Jan.1 and landed in Moscow on Jan. 2, Russian news agencies reported.

"The plane has taken off, everyone is on board," said the Russian embassy in Washington, quoted by the state-owned RIA Novosti agency.

A Russian Il-96 plane, flown specially from Russia, carrying the diplomats and their families landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport at 2:05 a.m. local time (11:05 p.m. GMT) after having taken off from Washington on Jan. 1, Russian state television said, according to AFP. 

State television showed the diplomats and their families gathering their luggage on the tarmac in the rain before heading inside the terminal.

"We can confirm that the 35 Russian diplomats declared persona non grata have, along with their family members, departed the United States," a U.S. State Department spokesman told AFP.

U.S. intelligence says the Kremlin ordered a hack-and-release of Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton campaign staff emails in a bid to put Republican Donald Trump in the White House.

Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the allegations.

The expulsions of the diplomats - described as intelligence operatives based at the Russian embassy in Washington and the consulate in San Francisco - were part of a package of sanctions ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama on Dec. 29 in the final weeks of his administration.

Obama also ordered the closure of two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland that the United States says were used "for intelligence-related purposes."

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week rebuked the outgoing president for ...