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 over Europe, the official plane took a long route over Turkey and the Mediterranean before entering French airspace, according to the FlightRadar24 website.
The repatriation was very secure: the bus was inspected by explosive detection dogs, police vans and motorcyclists were stationed outside the embassy and escorted to the airport.
The plaque indicating the presence of the Permanent Representation has been removed from the façade of the building.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which gave no further explanation, two members of its Permanent Representation remained in Strasbourg, where Russia remains linked to the Council of Europe through its cases concerning the European Court of Human Rights. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)