Following the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe on 16 March in response to the invasion of Ukraine, the staff of the Russian Permanent Representation to the Council of Europe left Strasbourg late on Wednesday 6 July.
Police estimate that around 50 people - diplomats, their families and staff - boarded a bus to Basel-Mulhouse airport from where they took off in an Illiouchine Il-96.
Forced by international sanctions that prohibit Russian aircraft from flying...