Russian personnel vacate compounds in New York and Maryland
In small convoys of vehicles, Russians departed two countryside vacation retreats outside Washington and New York City without fanfare on Friday, ordered out by U.S. President Barack Obama who said the premises were linked to spying.
The Russians were given until noon ET (1700 GMT) on Friday to vacate the compounds in Centreville, Maryland, and in Upper Brookville on Long Island in New York state. By early afternoon, trucks, buses and black sedans with diplomatic license plates had left.
“The premises have been vacated and it’s under control of the government,” Elliot Conway, the mayor of Upper Brookville, told reporters soon after noon, when a total of six vehicles had driven away from the Russian compound there.
“They’ve been quiet neighbors,” Conway said, adding he had never met anyone who lived at the estate set in rolling countryside about 25 miles (40 km) from Manhattan.
In Maryland, about a dozen vehicles left the sprawling waterfront estate, watched by officials from the U.S. State Department. Some passengers smiled and waved as they rode away from the compound, which is located in a wooded farm area with winding narrow roads.
Obama abruptly ordered the closures on Thursday, saying the compounds had been “used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes.” It was part of his response, including the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies, to what U.S. officials have called cyber interference by Moscow in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign. The Kremlin has denied the hacking allegations. (Reuters)
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