| Post: | Ambassador |
| Body: | the Russian Federation to the Republic of Latvia |
| Incumbent: | Mikhail Vanin |
| Insignia: | MID emblem.png |
| Incumbentsince: | 28 September 2021 |
| Department: | Ministry of Foreign Affairs Embassy of Russia in Riga |
| Style: | His Excellency The Honourable |
| Reports To: | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Seat: | Riga |
| Appointer: | President of Russia |
| Termlength: | At the pleasure of the President |
| Website: | Embassy of Russia in Latvia |
| Insigniacaption: | Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry |
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Latvia is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the President and the Government of Latvia.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Riga.[1] There are consulates general in Daugavpils and Liepaja.[2] [3] The post of Russian Ambassador to Latvia is currently held by Mikhail Vanin, incumbent since 28 September 2021.[4]
See main article: Latvia–Russia relations. The territory occupied by Latvia had been part of the Russian Empire since the eighteenth century. In the aftermath of the First World War and the collapse of the empire following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Latvia declared independence on 18 November 1918. Diplomatic relations were established between Latvia and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to Latvia on 11 August 1920, and Yakov Ganetsky was appointed the first Plenipotentiary representative on 31 August that year.[5] Representation continued until the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, after which Latvia was de facto part of the USSR for the remainder of the existence of the Soviet Union, with the exception of a period of occupation by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1944 during the Second World War. Soviet forces re-occupied Latvia in 1944, after which Latvia became a constituent part of the Soviet Union as the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic.[5]
As part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Latvia's secession was recognized by the State Council of the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Diplomatic relations with Russia were established on 4 October 1991.[6]
| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yakov Ganetsky | Plenipotentiary representative | 31 August 1920 | 7 December 1921 | |
| Konstantin Yurenev | Plenipotentiary representative | 1 February 1922 | 14 February 1923 | |
| Chargé d'affaires | 1923 | 1923 | ||
| Semyon Aralov | Plenipotentiary representative | 28 May 1923 | 23 July 1923 | |
| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semyon Aralov | Plenipotentiary representative | 23 July 1923 | 21 March 1925 | |
| Kazimir Krzheminsky | Chargé d'affaires | 1924 | 1924 | |
| Chargé d'affaires | 1925 | 1925 | ||
| Plenipotentiary representative | 9 July 1925 | 24 February 1927 | ||
| Sigizmund Borkusevich | Chargé d'affaires | 1926 | 1926 | |
| Ivan Lorents | Plenipotentiary representative | 24 February 1927 | 14 September 1929 | |
| Plenipotentiary representative | 14 September 1929 | 10 May 1933 | ||
| Plenipotentiary representative | 10 October 1933 | 25 October 1937 | ||
| Plenipotentiary representative | 1 November 1937 | 6 April 1940 | ||
| Plenipotentiary representative | 7 April 1940 | 10 October 1940 | ||
| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambassador | 2 March 1992 | 25 November 1996 | ||
| Ambassador | 25 November 1996 | 13 February 2001 | ||
| Ambassador | 13 February 2001 | 1 September 2004 | ||
| Ambassador | 13 February 2001 | 11 January 2008 | ||
| Alexander Veshnyakov[7] [8] | Ambassador | 11 January 2008 | 15 December 2016 | |
| Yevgeny Lukyanov[9] | Ambassador | 15 December 2016 | 25 March 2021 | |
| Vadim Vasileyev | Charge d'affaires | 25 March 2021 | 28 September 2021 | |
| Mikhail Vanin | Ambassador | 28 September 2021 | ||