Russian Ambassador to the US Alexander Darchiev Dies at 66
Alexander Darchiev, Russia's ambassador to the United States since March 2025, has died at 66, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday. The ministry gave no cause of death and said he "passed away suddenly." He was a career diplomat who specialized in US relations.
The Russian ambassador to the US, Alexander Darchiev, has died at the age of 66, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, November 11. The ministry did not give a cause of death.
Darchiev "passed away suddenly," the statement said. It called him an "exceptional professional" and extended condolences to his family and loved ones.
The ministry also described him as an "outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a kind colleague." It said he had worked "in one of the most critical areas of Russian foreign policy."
Darchiev had been ambassador in Washington since March 2025. That was shortly after US President Donald Trump returned to power, and several years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
His tenure coincided with a thaw in US-Russia relations. Trump opened bilateral talks with Moscow and scaled back aid to Ukraine.
Darchiev was known for sharp condemnations of the West. In 2022, when Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine, he called the move a "necessary measure."
A career spent on US relations
Darchiev was born into a diplomat's family. His father served as minister-counsellor at the Russian Embassy in Hungary.
He entered diplomatic service in 1992 as first secretary and head of the North America department in the Foreign Ministry. In 1997 he became an adviser at the Russian Embassy in the US, and he returned there as minister-counsellor from 2005 to 2010.
He went back to the Foreign Ministry in 2010 as director of the North America department. From 2014 to 2021 he was Russia's ambassador to Canada.
Other diplomatic deaths
Another senior Russian diplomat died suddenly nearly a decade ago. Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, died of cardiac arrest in 2017, one day before his 65th birthday.
The World Bank puts average life expectancy for a man in Russia at 68 years.
Moscow has not said who will take over the Washington post.
