A bus with Russian diplomats, earlier expelled by the government of Japan, left the Russian embassy’s territory and headed to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
The diplomats and their family members will be brought back to Russia aboard a special flight, due to depart in coming hours, TASS reported.
Earlier, Japan announced that it would expel eight employees of the Russian embassy and trade mission in Tokyo. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would give an "appropriate response" to Tokyo's decision.
Japan has so far recognized only three diplomats as personae non gratae. In 1973, a South Korean diplomat who was involved in the kidnapping of opposition politician Kim Dae-jung, who later became president, was expelled from the country. In 2006, an employee of the Ivorian Embassy was expelled for organizing an underground casino with the Yakuza mafia. Japan also declared the Syrian ambassador persona non grata in 2012.
