# List of ambassadors of Russia to the United Kingdom

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or formally the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Court of St James's, is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the Monarch and the Government of the United Kingdom.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Russian Embassy in London, while the official residence of the ambassador is 13 Kensington Palace Gardens. There is a consulate general in Edinburgh.
The post of ambassador to the United Kingdom is currently held by Andrey Kelin, incumbent since 5 November 2019.

## History of diplomatic relations

* 1553: Beginning of diplomatic relations.
* 1706: Establishment of the permanent mission in the Kingdom of England.
* 14 November 1720: Relations freezes as Great Britain (England's successor) refuse to recognize Russia as the empire.
* 1730: Restoration of diplomatic relations.
* 1741–1748: Allies in the Austrian War of Succession.
* 1756–1763: Opponents in the Seven Years' War.
* 22 November 1800: Emperor Paul imposed sanctions on Great Britain, diplomatic relations interrupted.
* 24 March 1801: The new Emperor Alexander cancels the sanctions on the request of British monarch George III, relations restored.
* 25 March 1802: Amiens peace treaty signed.
* 1803–1805: Allies in the coalition against France.
The United Kingdom established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1924. However, King George V was still upset over the execution of the Romanov family and refused to receive the Soviet ambassador. In a breach of diplomatic protocol, he dispatched the Prince of Wales to accept the Soviet ambassador's credentials.

## List of representatives (1556–present)
### Representatives of the Tsardom of Russia to the Kingdom of England (1556–1707)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Osip Nepeya [ru] | Chief of embassy | 1556 | 1557 |
| Fyodor Pisemsky [ru] | Chief of embassy | 1582 | 1583 |
| Grigory Mikulin [ru] | Chief of embassy | 1600 | 1601 |
| Aleksey Zyuzin [ru] | Chief of embassy | 1613 | 1613 |
| Pyotr Prozorovsky [ru] | Chief of embassy | 1662 | 1662 |

### Representatives of the Tsardom of Russia to the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1720)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Andrey Matveyev | Chief of mission | May 1707 | 1708 |
| Boris Kurakin | Minister Plenipotentiary | 1710 | 1711 |
| Albrecht von der Liet [ru] | Resident | 1711 | 1713 |
| Bertram von Shak | Resident | 1713 | 1717 |
| Fyodor Veselovsky [ru] | Resident | 9 June 1717 | February 1720 |
| Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin | Resident | March 1720 | 14 November 1720 |
| Great Northern War: Diplomatic relations interrupted (1720–1730) |||||

### Representatives of the Russian Empire to the Kingdom of Great Britain (1731–1801)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Antiokh Kantemir | Resident (before 17 July 1733) Envoy (after 17 July 1733) | 24 December 1731 | April 1738 |
| Sergey Dolgorukov [ru] | Envoy | 1738 | 1739 |
| Ivan Shcherbatov [ru] | Envoy | June 1739 | March 1742 |
| Semyon Naryshkin [ru] | Envoy | 31 December 1741 | June 1743 |
| Ivan Shcherbatov [ru] | Envoy | 20 June 1743 | August 1746 |
| Pyotr Chernyshyov | Envoy | 14 July 1746 | 20 March 1755 |
| Aleksandr Golitsyn | Envoy | 1755 | 1762 |
| Alexander Vorontsov | Envoy | February 1762 | 1764 |
| Heinrich Gross [ru] | Envoy | 9 December 1763 | 1765 |
| Fyodor Gross [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1765 | 1766 |
| Aleksey Musin-Pushkin [ru] | Envoy | December 1765 | July 1768 |
| Ivan Chernyshev | Envoy | 1768 | August 1769 |
| Aleksey Musin-Pushkin [ru] | Envoy | 12 August 1769 | 5 May 1779 |
| Ivan Lizakevich [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1775 | 1777 |
| Ivan Lizakevich [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1778 | 1778 |
| Ivan Simolin [ru] | Envoy | 5 May 1779 | 14 March 1784 |
| Semyon Vorontsov | Envoy | 24 May 1784 | 4 May 1800 |
| Ivan Lizakevich [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1785 | 1785 |
| Ivan Lizakevich [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 4 May 1800 | September 1800 |
| Malta Question: Diplomatic relations by chargé d'affaires (1800–1801) |||||
| Yakov Smirnov | Chargé d'affaires | 29 September 1800 | 25 May 1801 |

### Representatives of the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1917)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
| Semyon Vorontsov | Ambassador | 25 May 1801 | 15 May 1806 | |
| Pavel Stroganov | Chargé d'affaires | 10 May 1806 | 7 December 1806 | |
| Maxim Alopeus | Special envoy | 7 December 1806 | 2 February 1808 | |
| Anglo-Russian War: Diplomatic relations suspended (1808–1812) |||||
| Pavel Sukhtelen [ru] | Special envoy | 30 August 1812 | 30 September 1812 | |
| Pavel Nikolai [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 30 August 1812 | 18 September 1812 | |
| Khristofor Liven | Ambassador | 18 September 1812 | 22 May 1834 | |
| Adam Matushevich [ru] | Minister Plenipotentiary | 7 July 1830 | 23 October 1830 | |
| Pavel Medem | Chargé d'affaires | 20 June 1834 | 31 January 1835 | |
| Carlo Pozzo di Borgo | Ambassador | 5 January 1835 | 26 December 1839 | |
| Nikolai Kiselyov [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1839 | 1840 | |
| Phillip Brunnov | Envoy | 17 June 1840 | 18 December 1854 | |
| Crimean War: Diplomatic relations suspended (1854–1856) |||||
| Mikhail Khreptovich [ru] | Envoy | 30 June 1856 | 8 February 1858 | |
| Phillip Brunnov | Envoy (before 4 December 1860) Ambassador (after 4 December 1860) | 8 February 1858 | 21 May 1870 | |
| Nikolay Orlov | Ambassador appointee | 21 May 1870 | 28 November 1870 | Was not accredited |
| Phillip Brunnov | Ambassador | 28 November 1870 | 22 July 1874 | |
| Pyotr Shuvalov | Ambassador | 22 July 1874 | 19 October 1879 | |
| Aleksei Lobanov-Rostovskii | Ambassador | 22 December 1879 | 13 July 1882 | |
| Aleksandr Davydov [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1882 | 1882 | |
| Arthur von Mohrenheim | Ambassador | 13 July 1882 | 8 February 1884 | |
| Yegor Staal | Ambassador | 27 March 1884 | 30 August 1902 | |
| Alexander von Benckendorff | Ambassador | 1902 | 11 January 1917 | |
| Konstantin Nabokov | Chargé d'affaires | 1917 | 1917 | |
| Sergey Sazonov | Ambassador | January 1917 | 3 March 1917 | |
| Yevgeny Sablin [ru] | Chargé d'affaires | 1919 | 1924 | Unaccredited by the post-Imperial Russian government |

### Representatives of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1918–1923)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
| Maxim Litvinov | Authorised representative Plenipotentiary (after June 1918) | January 1918 | September 1918 | Not accredited |
| Leonid Krasin | Plenipotentiary | 1920 | July 1923 | Not accredited |

### Representatives of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1923–1991)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
| Christian Rakovsky | Plenipotentiary | July 1923 | 30 October 1925 | Accredited from 1 February 1924 |
| Leonid Krasin | Plenipotentiary | 30 October 1925 | 24 November 1926 | |
| Arkady Rosengolts | Plenipotentiary | 1926 | 26 May 1927 | |
| Grigori Sokolnikov | Plenipotentiary | November 1929 | 14 September 1932 | |
| Ivan Maisky | Plenipotentiary (before 9 May 1941) Ambassador (after 9 May 1941) | 8 November 1932 | 12 August 1943 | |
| Fedor Gusev | Ambassador | 12 August 1943 | 22 August 1946 | |
| Georgy Zarubin | Ambassador | 28 September 1946 | 13 June 1952 | |
| Andrei Gromyko | Ambassador | 13 June 1952 | May 1953 | |
| Yakov Malik | Ambassador | May 1953 | 11 January 1960 | |
| Aleksandr Soldatov [ru] | Ambassador | 11 January 1960 | 25 January 1966 | |
| Mikhail Smirnovsky | Ambassador | 25 January 1966 | 27 April 1973 | |
| Nikolai Lunkov [ru] | Ambassador | 27 April 1973 | 5 November 1980 | |
| Viktor Popov [ru] | Ambassador | 20 November 1980 | 10 April 1986 | |
| Leonid Zamyatin | Ambassador | 10 April 1986 | 18 November 1991 | |
| Boris Pankin | Ambassador | 19 November 1991 | 25 December 1991 | |

### Representatives of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom (1991–present)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination |
| Boris Pankin | Ambassador | 25 December 1991 | 16 September 1993 |
| Anatoly Adamishin | Ambassador | 5 September 1994 | 6 June 1997 |
| Yury Fokin [ru] | Ambassador | 6 June 1997 | 20 January 2000 |
| Grigory Karasin | Ambassador | 6 March 2000 | 9 June 2005 |
| Yuri Fedotov | Ambassador | 9 June 2005 | 27 August 2010 |
| Alexander Yakovenko | Ambassador | 24 January 2011 | 26 August 2019 |
| Andrey Kelin | Ambassador | 5 November 2019 | |