Russian ambassador to US Alexander Darchiev dies at 66
Moscow's foreign ministry says the death was sudden and gives no details; Darchiev had held the Washington posting since March 2025.
Russia's ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died at the age of 66, the Russian foreign ministry announced on Wednesday. The ministry said the death was sudden. It gave no further details, according to South China Morning Post and Punch, which both carried the announcement.
The ministry described Darchiev as "an outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a kind colleague".
He had been Moscow's senior representative in Washington since March 2025. Punch reported that he was appointed shortly after Donald Trump returned to the US presidency, and several years into Russia's war in Ukraine, which has set Moscow against Washington and its allies.
The reports describe his earlier career differently. South China Morning Post said he served as Russia's ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021. Punch said the Canada posting ran from 2021 to 2024, and that he was director of the foreign ministry's North America department between 2014 and 2020. Punch described him as a specialist in Russia-US relations.
In 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, Darchiev called the move a "necessary measure", Punch reported.
No cause of death was given in the reports. None of them said where he died, and none carried a separate statement from the Russian embassy in Washington.
Euronews reported that the ambassador, aged 66, died on Wednesday. The Moscow Times and News18 also reported the death, with News18 attributing the announcement to the Russian foreign ministry.
Darchiev's death leaves the Washington embassy without the ambassador who arrived there in the first year of the new US administration, at a point when contacts between the two capitals were already limited by the war in Ukraine.
How the reports differ
South China Morning Post and Punch gave different accounts of Darchiev's career before Washington: SCMP placed his posting as ambassador to Canada between 2014 and 2021, while Punch placed it between 2021 and 2024 and put him at the head of the foreign ministry's North America department from 2014 to 2020. Punch alone reported that he was appointed to Washington shortly after Trump returned to power, and alone carried his 2022 description of the attack on Ukraine as a "necessary measure". Euronews, The Moscow Times and News18 reported the death and his age without further detail; News18 attributed the announcement directly to the Russian foreign ministry.
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