Russian diplomats expelled from UK over spy poisoning
Minibuses and removal vans have been at the Russian embassy in London as 23 expelled diplomats prepare to leave the UK.
The diplomats, who were identified as 'undeclared intelligence officers' by Prime Minister Theresa May, were ordered to leave in response to the Salisbury spy poisoning case in which Russia is thought to be responsible.
Around 80 people, including those expelled and their families, could be seen hugging each other and waving as they left the embassy in a procession of vehicles.
They later flew out from Stansted Airport.
In response to the expulsions, Russia ordered 23 British diplomats to leave their embassy in Moscow within a week.
In retaliation, Theresa May is expected to focus her efforts on freezing Russian assets in the UK.
Tensions are expected to continue rising as a senior police offcier confirmed investigations into the Salisbury nerve agent attack could take months.
Assistant Commissioner for Counter Terrorism at the Metropolitan Police Neil Basu said: "To date, detectives have recovered 762 exhibits and are trawling through around 4,000 hours of CCTV.
"They are making good progress in what is a painstaking investigation that is likely to be ongoing for weeks, if not months."
It appears as though the investigation is currently focusing on the car that carried Sergei Skripal's daughter Yulia from the airport, however police say they are probing all "movements" of the Skripals.
Mr Basu said: "We are learning more about Sergei and Yulia's movements but we need to be clearer around their exact movements."
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said despite "all fingers" pointing towards Russia, he would still do business with the country.
He has been forced to defend his stance on the attack after declining to categorically blame the Kremlin for the poisoning.
Mr Corbyn's earlier warning not to "rush ahead of the evidence" led to criticism from Conservatives and some Labour backbenchers.
He said "all fingers point towards Russia's involvement in this" however he maintained that he would still "do business" with President Vladimir Putin if Labour came into power.
"Would I do business with Putin, sure? And I'd challenge him on human rights in Russia, challenge him on these issues and challenge him on that whole basis of that relationship," he told the BBC.