# List of ambassadors of Russia to Iraq

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Iraq is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the Prime Minister and the Government of Iraq.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Baghdad. There is a Russian consulate-general in Erbil. The current ambassador is Elbrus Kutrashev, incumbent since 8 April 2021.

## Background

The historic relations between Russia and Iraq began when the latter was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Russian imperial government still showed wide interest in the region. Since the 19th century, a Russian consulate was functioning in Baghdad, due to the Shia Muslims' pilgrimage to the holy cities of Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. After the Russian Empire annexed the North Caucasus and Central Asia this further increased due to the large Shia populations native to those regions. According to the Russian consul in Baghdad on 19 November 1890, 19,500 pilgrims from the North Caucasus and Central Asia visited the holy shrines in Iraq. However, after the end of the Ottoman rule in the region, the diplomatic mission was ended.
Soviet Union re-established diplomatic ties with newly independent Iraq on 9 September 1944. In 1955, relations were disrupted by the Iraqi side. In July 1958, both countries resumed diplomatic relations.

### Timeline of the diplomatic relations

* 25 August - 9 September 1944 - diplomatic relations were established at the mission level.
* 3 January - 8 January 1955 - diplomatic relations were interrupted by the Iraqi government.
* 18 July 1958 - an agreement was reached on the resumption of diplomatic relations at the embassy level.

## List of representatives (1944 – present)
### Representatives of the Soviet Union to the Kingdom of Iraq (1944 - 1958)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Grigory Zaitsev [ru] | Envoy | 29 November 1944 | 20 January 1949 |
| Ivan Yakushin [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1952 | 8 January 1955 |
| Diplomatic relations interrupted (1955 - 1958) |||||

### Representatives of the Soviet Union to the First Iraqi Republic (1958 - 1968)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Grigory Zaitsev [ru] | Ambassador | 31 July 1958 | 15 October 1961 |
| Mikhail Yakovlev [ru] | Ambassador | 15 October 1961 | 7 August 1965 |
| Vasily Nikolayev [ru] | Ambassador | 7 August 1965 | 1968 |

### Representatives of the Soviet Union to the Second Iraqi Republic (1968 - 1991)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Vasily Nikolayev [ru] | Ambassador | 1968 | 17 December 1969 |
| Veniamin Likhachyov [ru] | Ambassador | 20 February 1970 | 29 December 1973 |
| Anatoly Barkovsky [ru] | Ambassador | 29 December 1973 | 17 March 1982 |
| Viktor Minin [ru] | Ambassador | 17 March 1982 | 19 December 1989 |
| Viktor Posluvalyuk [ru] | Ambassador | 13 March 1990 | 25 December 1991 |

### Representatives of the Russian Federation to the Second Iraqi Republic (1991 - 2003)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Viktor Posluvalyuk [ru] | Ambassador | 13 March 1990 | 22 April 1992 |
| Nikolai Kartuzov [ru] | Ambassador | 22 August 1994 | 6 August 1999 |
| Aleksandr Shein [ru] | Ambassador | 9 August 1999 | 29 March 2002 |
| Vladimir Titorenko | Ambassador | 29 March 2002 | 16 May 2003 |

### Representatives of the Russian Federation to the Coalition Provisional Authority (2003 - 2004)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
| Vladimir Titorenko | Ambassador | 16 May 2003 | 8 December 2003 | |
| Ilya Morgunov [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 8 December 2003 | 28 June 2004 | |

### Representatives of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Iraq (2004 - present)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Ilya Morgunov [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 28 June 2004 | 3 March 2005 |
| Vladimir Chamov [ru] | Ambassador | 3 March 2005 | 16 October 2008 |
| Valeryan Shuvayev [ru] | Ambassador | 16 October 2008 | 2 March 2012 |
| Ilya Morgunov [ru] | Ambassador | 2 March 2012 | 3 October 2016 |
| Maksim Maksimov [ru] | Ambassador | 3 October 2016 | 8 April 2021 |
| Elbrus Kutrashev | Ambassador | 8 April 2021 | |