MOSCOW: Russia said on Monday it was expelling three diplomats from the Slovak embassy in Moscow in a tit-for-tat move after Bratislava forced out three Russians amid a growing diplomatic spat with Europe.

"The Russian side, guided by the principle of reciprocity, decided to expel... three diplomatic staff of the Slovak Embassy in Moscow," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

German prosecutors accused Russia of ordering the killing of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian national who was shot twice in the head at close range last year.