Russian embassy mocks 'lame duck' Obama amid US hacking row

The Russian embassy in the UK has hit back at Barack Obama's retribution for the alleged hacking of the US presidential campaign by insinuating the outgoing leader is a "lame duck".

Mr Obama ordered 35 Russian diplomats to leave the US and shut down a pair of Russian compounds in New York and Maryland.

Moscow, which denies trying to swing the election in Donald Trump's favour, threatened retaliation and branded the Obama administration "losers".

On Thursday, Russia's embassy in London took to Twitter where it posted a picture of a duck captioned with the word "lame".

"President Obama expels 35 (Russian) diplomats in Cold War deja vu. As everybody, incl (American) people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm," it added.

The US says Russia was behind cyber attacks on the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.

Mr Trump, who will be sworn is as president on January 20, has dismissed the allegations as an attempt to delegitimise his election victory, which was overwhelmingly-regarded as a shock.