Russian Embassy Issues Footage of US Intrusion in Diplomatic Facility (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Russian Embassy in the United States issued photos and footage proving the US intrusion in the closed Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco.

On Monday, the US Department of State confirmed to Sputnik that the United States carried out a walkthrough at the Consulate General in San Francisco "to secure the residential portions of the buildings and confirm that all residents had left the premises." On Tuesday, US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) did not take part in the walkthrough and that the locks had not been broken.

"To learn where & when 'they did't break locks, just walked through, looked' follow @MFA_Russia," the Russian Embassy wrote on its Twitter on late Tuesday.

"To emphasize once again, we have not given the US authorities our consent to the lifting of immunity from our diplomatic and consular property, nor do we permit the invasion of our buildings. Nobody has invited US agents to be there. They are intruders. Their actions are outrageous and unprecedented in the history of bilateral relations," the Embassy said via Storify.

The Embassy added that the US actions violated the international law and voiced the protest against the intrusion in the closed consulate.

Tensions in Russian-US relations escalated after the United States accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. Moscow has repeatedly denied all accusations on the matter.

In early August, Washington imposed its newest package of the anti-Russia sanctions, which urged Russia to announce that the diplomatic presence of the United States would be cut by 755 people to 455, the same number of diplomatic personnel that Russia had in the United States. Washington responded with closing several Russian diplomatic facilities including the Consulate General in San Francisco. After Russian diplomats left the diplomatic compounds, US security agents entered the premises to perform searches. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that these actions were violating the Vienna convention on diplomatic and consular relations.

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