US officials start examination of former Russian Consulate i

Officials with the US Department of State drilled out the lock on a front gate to the former Russian Consulate residence in downtown Seattle in the US western state of Washington Wednesday morning, a Seattle-based newspaper reported.

A locksmith employed by the US officials worked for about 15 minutes to open the gate of the Russian Consulate before they moved on to the residence's front door, an apparent access to the main residence building, the Seattle Times daily said.

The move came one day after Russian diplomats left the residence following an order by US President Donald Trump to cease operation of the Consulate and vacate it last month.

The Russian Consulate office in downtown Seattle closed earlier this month amid escalating tensions between the US and Russia, after Washington and the West accused Russia of being allegedly involved in the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The Trump administration ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats in the country, including a dozen at Russia's mission to the United Nations, while Moscow responded by expelling the same number of US diplomats from Russia as "persona non grata."

On Wednesday morning, the Russian Embassy tweeted that the US State Department is to break open the Russian Consulate.

"US special services are preparing to invade Russian diplomatic property in Seattle," it said on Twitter.

"After breaking Russian diplomatic property's gates lock @GK_Seattle , the intruders got inside," it added.

Russian officials said they locked the residence "but retained the keys" because the facility is "property of Russia."

The Russian Consulate in Seattle was opened in December 1992 as the first new Russian diplomatic mission in the US west in the post-Soviet era.