Plane with body of slain Russian envoy lands in Moscow

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Marina Davydova Karlova, widow of late Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, reacts in front of his coffin, during a ceremonial farewell with full state honours on the tarmac of Ankara's Esenboga Airport on December 20, 2016, before the coffin is transported on a Russian plane for Moscow. Veteran diplomat Andrei Karlov was shot nine times in the back by an off-duty Turkish policeman at the opening of an exhibition of Russian photography on December 19, 2016. The brazen killing stunned Ankara and Moscow, which have rowed repeatedly over the Syria conflict but in recent weeks have begun cooperating closely on the evacuations from war-wrecked Aleppo. / AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN
Marina Davydova Karlova, widow of late Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, reacts in front of his coffin, during a ceremonial farewell with full state honours on the tarmac of Ankara’s Esenboga Airport on December 20, 2016, before the coffin is transported on a Russian plane for Moscow.
Veteran diplomat Andrei Karlov was shot nine times in the back by an off-duty Turkish policeman at the opening of an exhibition of Russian photography on December 19, 2016. The brazen killing stunned Ankara and Moscow, which have rowed repeatedly over the Syria conflict but in recent weeks have begun cooperating closely on the evacuations from war-wrecked Aleppo./ AFP PHOTO / 

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Russian plane carrying the body of the ambassador assassinated in Turkey landed on Tuesday in Moscow, met by the top Russian and Turkish diplomats.

Andrei Karlov’s coffin and his widow traveled back to Russia after the veteran diplomat was shot dead by a 22-year-old Turkish policeman at an art exhibit in Ankara on Monday in what Moscow called an “act of terror”.

TV footage from the Vnukovo airport showed Karlov’s widow and another relative led off the plane by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, who met the two women after the landing.

The coffin was carried by an honor guard and loaded onto a hearse to the sound of sombre music from a military band.

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