President Obama said the compounds were used for spying, and officially kicked the Russians out at noon


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 72 hours 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.

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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 the country's embassy in Washington, DC, and consulate in San Francisco, who were labeled 'persona non grata' by Obama and given 72 hours 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 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

Earlier on Saturday, Russian officials revealed that one of the diplomats from the consulate in California is a chef.

In a Facebook post by the Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco, dozens of the expelled diplomats and their families were expected to 'fly back to Russia on Saturday'.

A photo of the last dinner for some of the diplomats was posted on Facebook with the caption: 'It's so difficult to remain diplomatic… but we will.'

The consulate also called Obama's expulsion of the diplomats in Washington, DC, and San Francisco, 'bizarre and ridiculous' and mentioned that one of the expelled individuals is a chef, who 'will be leaving with his wife and two-year old son'.

'We strongly condemn the unfriendly and completely unjustified step taken by the outgoing US administration,' officials from the consulate wrote.

Two of the Russian country clubs, one in New York and the other in Maryland, were also shut down by noon on Friday.

One of the country clubs that was vacated shortly after Obama's announcement was the Upper Brookville home, also known as Elmcroft, in Long Island.

It was shut down after Obama said he would be closing a Russian compound in New York that had been used for intelligence gathering.

Russia officials also revealed that one of the 35 diplomats is a chef, who will be leaving America on Saturday, as two of their KGB country clubs outside New York City and Maryland lie abandoned after President Obama's expulsion. A photo of the last dinner for some of the diplomats was posted on Facebook with the caption: 'It's so difficult to remain diplomatic… but we will'

One of the country clubs that was vacated shortly after Obama's announcement was the Upper Brookville home (pictured) in Long Island. It was shut down after Obama said he would be closing a 'Russian compound' in New York that had been used for intelligence gathering

On Thursday and Friday, Russian officials were seen hurriedly closing their Maryland estate (pictured). The Russian Embassy's compound in Centreville, Maryland, is located along the Corsica River

It was initially believed that the Killenworth compound (pictured), which is in Glen Cove, Long Island, was the target in New York. But Glen Cove Mayor Reggie Spinello said Friday that Killenworth was not being closed down by the government

'The premises have now been vacated,' Village Mayor Elliot Conway said after at least eight vehicles with diplomatic plates departed the upscale North Shore village.

The Gold Coast estate, once called Elmcroft, was purchased by the Soviets in 1950s.

It was initially believed that the Killenworth compound, which is in Glen Cove, Long Island, was the target in New York.

But Glen Cove Mayor Reggie Spinello said Friday that Killenworth was not being closed down by the government and instead it was the Brookville retreat, which is located on Long Island's exclusive North Shore.

'For years, it's basically been a facility just for the caretakers. They take care of the facility,' Spinello said. 'The people there use our beaches, our parks. They are very quiet people, they fly under the radar.'

Dasvidaniya: The Russian government is sending this plane, an Ilyushin Il-96 - to the U.S. to ferry its expelled diplomats out of the country by New Year's Day

Obama gave the government until noon on Friday to get out of the compounds - which he said were used for spying - before the State Department took custody of the residences.

PUTIN WILL NOT EXPEL ANY U.S. DIPLOMATS IN RESPONSE TO OBAMA'S SANCTIONS Russian President Vladimir Putin held his rival Barack Obama up to ridicule on Friday by declining to engage in tit-for-tat expulsions. Putin had been expected to mirror Obama's decision to expel 35 intelligence agents with Cold War style revenge expulsions. His foreign minister had called for the measure, but instead Putin said he was waiting to deal with incoming President Donald Trump. 'We will not create problems for American diplomats. We will not expel anyone,' Putin said in a statement, also inviting children of U.S. diplomats to a holiday party at the Kremlin. Advertisement

There was heavy traffic in and out of both estates, Elmcroft and Killenworth, before the deadline on Friday.

The compound in Maryland is located along the Corsica River in Centerville.

Reports indicate that the 45-acre Maryland retreat was bought by the former Soviet Union in 1972 and historically served as a recreational getaway for its diplomats seeking a respite from the diplomatic whirl in nearby Washington, DC.

Previous reports stated that some of the diplomats were having a hard time booking travel out of the US at the last minute and during the holiday season.

As he ordered the airlift, Putin also mocked Obama by declining to carry out tit-for-tat expulsions of US diplomats and instead inviting their children to a holiday party at the Kremlin – as well as saying he would wait for Donald Trump to become president before deciding what to do next.

Putin's officials launched a tirade of abuse at Obama and his administration, calling them 'angry and shallow brained losers', while a senior member of the Russian parliament called the president a 'political corpse'.

The expulsion of the 35 diplomats isn't the only part of Obama's new round of sanctions.

The president also placed sanctions on six Russian individuals and five Kremlin-associated entities.

President Obama cut off Russian access to the two buildings starting at noon on Friday. That left the Russians with little time to pack up the houses. Above, another view of the Maryland compound - where a window was left ajar

People are seen gathered outside the Russian-owned Maryland compound on Thursday

A long line of moving trucks, SUVs and buses were seen leaving the Russian government's estate in Centreville, Maryland on Friday

A convoy of vehicles with diplomatic plates driving away from the Russian compound near Centerville, Maryland on Friday

TRUMP RESPONDS: MOVE ON Donald Trump's chosen White House press secretary on Thursday urged the Obama administration to show its cards if it has solid proof that Russia was behind a series of election-year computer hacks that may have cost Hillary Clinton the presidency. Trump has shrugged off the suggestion that Moscow engineered the cyber attacks, but Sean Spicer told reporters during a morning conference call that his position could change in the face of evidence. 'If the United States has clear proof of anyone interfering with our elections, we should make that known.' Spicer said. 'Right now we need to see further facts.' President Obama announced new sanctions against Russia for the alleged hacks, a day after Donald Trump said it was time to move on. 'I think we ought to get on with our lives,' Trump said of the alleged hacking. Advertisement

Obama said the sanctions were in response to Russia's allegedly coordinated hacks on the Republican and Democratic National Committees, that resulted in leaks he says were aimed at swaying the US election.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied such hacks.

On Thursday and Friday, Russian officials were seen hurriedly closing both of their estates in Maryland and New York.

The Russian government maintained it, after the Soviet Union fell.

On Thursday, people who identified themselves as US State Department employees asked reporters to leave when they approached the Maryland property.

When US tensions were at their highest with the Soviet Union, the Federal Bureau of Investigation kept an office in Centreville, residents said.

The FBI office closed years ago, they said, and over time neighbors in this community of about 4,500 people got used to Russian-accented officials shopping at the liquor store, hunting nearby and dining at a popular Irish pub, O'Shucks.

Alison Davis, who lives nearby, said the Russians have been using that complex for years.

'We coexist with these people peacefully. It's basically their summer cottage, but we see the diplomat tags driving here all the time, very friendly,' she said. 'We see them biking, say hello.'

Still, she said, local residents don't 'really have any interactions with them. They kind of keep to themselves.'

She said the compound has a private beach and had been known to be used for a sailing regatta at the end-of-summer Labor Day holiday weekend.

The Russian government-owned compound in Centreville, Maryland is seen above

Cars are seen entering the Killenworth estate on Friday, as Russian officials officials closed down one of their Long Island compounds

George Sigler, a Centreville councilman, said he had visited the compound several times for the regatta. There, Sigler said, he socialized with diplomats, including a former Russian ambassador to the United States, Yuri Ushakov.

'We were all talking the same language, they were all my age,' said Sigler, a former Marine who at one point in his service defended US embassy compounds. 'All of us drank way too much vodka.'

Once, just hours after Sigler admired the quality of the vodka served at the compound, Ushakov had a bottle of it dropped off at the town hall, Sigler said.

But mostly, residents said, the Russians appeared to keep to themselves, outsiders in this otherwise tight-knit town, where many families have roots going back generations.

Reverend Joseph Lingan, 59, spent time at a weekend retreat for Jesuit priests next to the Russian compound. He said his foreign neighbors always felt distant when he passed them in town or on the road.

'People here tend to wave to me,' he said. He paused and gestured towards the compound. 'They don't tend to wave.'

Elmcroft, one of the Russian's two Long Island estates, is seen on Friday as movers frantically load vans with boxes

The Russians had until noon on Friday to get out of their Maryland and New York compounds before the State Department took custody

The Elmcroft estate (pictured above on Friday) located in the village of Upper Brookville in the town of Oyster Bay, was originally purchased by the Soviet Union in the 1950s

President Obama (right) is seen meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) at the 2012 G20 Summit in Mexico

An Associated Press story from 1992 about the sprawling Maryland property said at the time that the brick mansion had been converted into 12 apartments and a dozen cottages, each with four apartments; in total, the compound can accommodate 40 families at a time, according to that report.

That report also said the property then boasted four lighted tennis courts, a swimming pool and a soccer field - and that a summer camp was held there for Russian children and for two weeks each Christmas.

A senior US law enforcement official said the US government had long known the compound was used by Russia for intelligence operations, but had not previously seen it as an immediate threat.

The Russian government says that its two old Gold Coast mansions on Long Island are used as weekend retreats for its United Nations diplomats. Both are more than an hour's drive from UN headquarters in New York City.

One, the Elmcroft estate, located in the village of Upper Brookville in the town of Oyster Bay. The other is the Killenworth mansion, not far away in the small city of Glen Cove, also bought during the Cold War era.

Both Long Island properties were the subject of long-running property battles between the Russian government and local officials, who insisted that the luxurious estates be subject to property taxes.

Those disputes have since been resolved, and for years the Town of Oyster Bay has waived parking and beach permit fees for Russia's UN diplomatic staff as a goodwill gesture.