Moscow on Saturday said it had expelled two US diplomats in a retaliatory move after Washington turfed out two Russian officials over an attack on an embassy worker last month.

Moscow on Saturday said it had expelled two US diplomats in a retaliatory move after Washington turfed out two Russian officials over an attack on an embassy worker last month.

"After their unfriendly step two employees of the United States embassy had to leave Moscow. They were declared persona non grata for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status," Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a statement, accusing the pair of being CIA agents.