List of ambassadors of Russia to Rwanda

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Rwanda
Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Incumbent Karen Chalyan  [ ru ] since 14 March 2018
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Embassy of Russia in Kigali
Style	Her Excellency The Honourable
Reports to	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seat	Kigali
Appointer	President of Russia
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Website	Embassy of Russia in Kigali

The Ambassador of Russia to Rwanda is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the President and the Government of Rwanda.

The ambassador and her staff work at large in the Russian embassy in Kigali. ^[1] The current Russian ambassador to Rwanda is Karen Chalyan  [ ru ], incumbent since 14 March 2018. ^[2]

History of diplomatic relations

Main article: Russia-Rwanda relations

Following a series of events, including the Rwandan Revolution in 1959 and the 1961 Rwandan monarchy referendum, culminating in a Rwandan declaration of independence in 1962, the Soviet Union moved to establish relations with the new state. The two countries agreed to exchange ambassadors on 17 October 1963, and the first Soviet ambassador to Rwanda, Yevgeny Afanasenko  [ ru ], was appointed on 1 November 1966, and presented his credentials on 4 January 1967. ^[3] With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the incumbent Soviet ambassador, Pyotr Komendant  [ ru ], continued as a representative of the Russian Federation until 1994. ^[3]

List of representatives (1966- present)

Representatives of the Soviet Union to Rwanda (1966-1991)

Name	Title	Appointment	Termination	Notes
Yevgeny Afanasenko  [ ru ]	Ambassador	1 November 1966	24 May 1972	Presented credentials on 4 January 1967
Grigory Zhilyakov  [ ru ]	Ambassador	2 June 1972	19 May 1978	Presented credentials on 21 July 1972
Gennady Rykov  [ ru ]	Ambassador	19 May 1978	17 November 1984	Presented credentials on 7 June 1978
Gennady Sokolov  [ ru ]	Ambassador	17 November 1984	23 August 1990	Presented credentials on 8 January 1985
Pyotr Komendant  [ ru ]	Ambassador	23 August 1990	25 December 1991

Representatives of the Russian Federation to Rwanda (1991-present)

Name	Title	Appointment	Termination	Notes
Pyotr Komendant  [ ru ]	Ambassador	25 December 1991	11 January 1994
Anatoly Smirnov  [ ru ]	Ambassador	11 January 1994	28 July 1998
Stanislav Akhmedov  [ ru ]	Ambassador	28 July 1998	17 September 2002
Aleksei Dulyan  [ ru ]	Ambassador	17 September 2002	20 December 2006
Mirgayas Shirinsky  [ ru ]	Ambassador	20 December 2006	22 May 2013
Andrei Polyakov	Ambassador	22 May 2013	31 October 2017
Karen Chalyan  [ ru ]	Ambassador	14 March 2018

References

1. "Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Rwanda". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia) . Retrieved 4 April 2021.
2. "Ambassador". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia) . Retrieved 4 April 2021.
3. "Посольство СССР в Руанда" (in Russian). Справочник по истории Коммунистической партии и Советского Союза 1898 - 1991. Retrieved 4 April 2021.