TOKYO: A Japanese consul who was temporarily detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service left Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East on a Wednesday morning flight to the Russian capital of Moscow, according to Russian state-run news agency Tass.

Local security agency sources said that the consul would not fly directly to Japan, but instead head to Moscow first.

As neither Vladivostok nor Moscow currently has direct flights to Japan, the consul is expected to return home via the Middle East or by other routes.

On Tuesday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said, “From the perspective of putting safety first, we are making arrangements to allow the consul to return to Japan as soon as possible.”

The Russian side said Monday it had declared the consul a “persona non grata” and ordered the consul to leave the country within 48 hours.

The Japanese side heavily criticized Russia’s actions, saying that the consul’s detention was a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which guarantees the inviolable status of diplomats.

JIJI Press