Russia expelled diplomats from Europe and US on Friday. (Video by People's Daily app)

Russia expelled diplomats from 23 countries Friday in a wave of retaliatory measures against the West in a spy row, the biggest wave of tit-for-tat expulsions in recent memory.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the heads of missions from 23 countries earlier to tell them that some of their diplomats had to leave the country.

The ambassadors of those countries were handed a letter of protest and were informed of Russia's countermeasures earlier.

(Screenshots of the video)

(Video: shot by Qu Song and Qu Pei, edited by Zhao Dantong)