The Obama administration is shutting access to a New York retreat and a Maryland riverfront compound where Russian diplomats played tennis, sailed and escaped the political bustle, claiming those doubled for intelligence activities.
As the Obama administration retaliates for alleged cyber-meddling in the U.S. presidential election, Russians were being denied access to the compounds starting at noon Friday. President Barack Obama announced that step recently in Washington as part of sanctions highlighted by the expulsion of 35 Russians.
The 45-acre Maryland retreat boasts a brick mansion along the Corsica River in the bucolic Eastern Shore region. Reports indicate it was bought by the former Soviet Union in 1972 and historically served as a recreational getaway for its diplomats seeking a respite from the diplomatic whirl in nearby Washington, D.C.
White House officials said this week that the compounds were being used for intelligence activities.
On Thursday, people who identified themselves as U.S. State Department employees asked reporters to leave when they approached the Maryland property.
Alison Davis, who lives nearby, said the Russians have been using that complex for years.
