# List of ambassadors of Russia to the Philippines

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of the Philippines is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the President and the Government of the Philippines.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Manila. The post of Russian Ambassador to the Philippines is currently held by Marat Pavlov [ru], incumbent since 21 September 2020. The ambassador to the Philippines is also the non-resident ambassador to Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia.

## History of diplomatic relations

The Russian Empire's far eastern expansion during the nineteenth century brought it into contact with the countries of Southeast Asia, which provided a source of food and raw materials for the new territories, which could not be easily supplied from within the empire. Peter Dobell, an Irish-born American businessman living in the region, arranged for trade relations with the Russian Far East, and was in 1817 appointed the Russian consul general in Manila under the name Pyotr Vasilievich Dobel. He acted as an unofficial representative of the Russian government, a role later fulfilled largely by French merchants prior to the 1917 revolution. Following the establishment of Soviet rule, links were initially maintained via the Communist International, but gradually died out in the face of official Philippine opposition. Following Philippine independence in 1946, the national government continued the previous policy of not establishing relations with socialist countries. This changed in 1965 with the new President, Ferdinand Marcos, who sought links with socialist countries as new markets for exports.
Trade and political links were developed and strengthened during the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1976, following Ferdinand Marcos's first state visit to the USSR on 2 June 1976, a communiqué was issued, establishing diplomatic relations. Both countries began to exchange ambassadors from 1977 onwards. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Philippines recognised the Russian Federation as its successor state on 28 December 1991. The incumbent Soviet ambassador, Vitaly Kuchuk [ru], continued to serve as representative of Russia until 1996.

## List of representatives (1977 – present)
### Representatives of the Soviet Union to the Philippines (1977 – 1991)

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
| Valerian Mikhailov [ru] | Ambassador | 22 October 1977 | 21 July 1981 | Presentation of credentials on 5 January 1978 |
| Yuri Sholmov [ru] | Ambassador | 21 July 1981 | 23 December 1985 | Presentation of credentials on 29 September 1981 |
| Vadim Shabalin [ru] | Ambassador | 23 December 1985 | 12 November 1987 | |
| Oleg Sokolov [ru] | Ambassador | 12 November 1987 | 30 October 1990 | |
| Vitaly Kuchuk [ru] | Ambassador | 6 December 1990 | 25 December 1991 | |

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

| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
| Vitaly Kuchuk [ru] | Ambassador | 25 December 1991 | 13 February 1996 | |
| Anatoly Khmelnitsky [ru] | Ambassador | 13 February 1996 | 16 July 2002 | |
| Anatoly Nebogatov [ru] | Ambassador | 16 July 2002 | 8 January 2007 | |
| Vitaly Vorobyov [ru] | Ambassador | 8 January 2007 | 27 August 2010 | |
| Nikolai Kudashev [ru] | Ambassador | 27 August 2010 | 2 March 2015 | Presentation of credentials on October 20 2010 |
| Igor Khovayev [ru] | Ambassador | 2 March 2015 | 19 September 2020 | Presentation of credentials on 8 June 2015 |
| Marat Pavlov [ru] | Ambassador | 21 September 2020 | | Presentation of credentials on 2 December 2020 |