| Post: | Ambassador |
| Body: | the Russian Federation to the Republic of Estonia |
| Incumbent: | Vladimir Lipayev |
| Insignia: | MID emblem.png |
| Incumbentsince: | 14 December 2021 |
| Department: | Ministry of Foreign Affairs Embassy of Russia in Tallinn |
| Style: | His Excellency The Honourable |
| Reports To: | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Seat: | Tallinn |
| Appointer: | President of Russia |
| Termlength: | At the pleasure of the President |
| Website: | Embassy of Russia in Tallinn |
| Insigniacaption: | Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry |
The Ambassador of Russia to Estonia is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the President and the Government of Estonia.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Russian embassy in Tallinn.[1] There is a consular section in Tartu, and a consulate general in Narva. The current Russian ambassador to Estonia is Vladimir Lipayev, incumbent since 14 December 2021.[2]
See main article: Estonia-Russia relations. Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic were established on 2 February 1920, when Bolshevist Russia recognized de jure the independence of the Republic of Estonia, and renounced in perpetuity all rights to the territory of Estonia, via the Treaty of Tartu.[3] Relations were maintained after the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1923, but deteriorated after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the USSR, and its provisions for the domination of the Baltic countries by the Soviet Union. Estonia in the Second World War was at first pressured to accept Soviet military domination, and then occupied by Soviet forces in 1940. A pro-Soviet government was installed, and on 6 August 1940 Estonia was annexed into the Soviet Union as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic.[3]
During the late Soviet Glasnost policy of Mikhail Gorbachev, new elections were held, returning a parliament that introduced a resolution for independence on 8 May 1990. Anticipating Estonian independence, Boris Yeltsin, chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR met with his counterpart, Arnold Rüütel, chairman of the Estonian SSR, in January 1991 to plan for transition. During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, the Estonian parliament issued a Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union on 20 August 1991, which was recognized by the State Council of the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the year, the Russian Federation was created. The first ambassador of the Russian Federation to Estonia, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, was appointed on 24 January 1992.[3] [4]
| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isidore Gukovsky | Diplomatic representative | 11 February 1920 | 1920 | |
| Diplomatic representative | 1920 | 1921 | ||
| Maxim Litvinov | Acting diplomatic representative | 26 December 1920 | 12 September 1921 | |
| Leonid Stark | Diplomatic representative Acting, prior to 15 November 1922 | 12 September 1921 | 1923 | |
| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leonid Stark | Diplomatic representative | 1923 | 12 May 1924 | |
| Yuri Maltsev | Chargé d'affaires | 1924 | 1924 | |
| Mikhail Kobetsky | Diplomatic representative | 21 June 1924 | 10 December 1924 | |
| Adolf Petrovsky | Diplomatic representative | 10 December 1924 | 31 January 1930 | |
| Chargé d'affaires | 1924 | 1 January 1927 | ||
| Fyodor Raskolnikov | Diplomatic representative | 6 March 1930 | 18 August 1933 | |
| Diplomatic representative | 27 January 1934 | 26 September 1937 | ||
| Diplomatic representative | 1 November 1937 | 10 July 1940 | ||
| Diplomatic representative | 29 July 1940 | 6 August 1940 | ||
| Name | Title | Appointment | Termination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleksandr Kuznetsov | Ambassador | 24 January 1992 | 1 September 1992 | |
| Aleksandr Trofimov | Ambassador | 1 September 1992 | 23 July 1997 | |
| Ambassador | 23 July 1997 | 15 September 2000 | ||
| Konstantin Provalov | Ambassador | 15 September 2000 | 25 July 2006 | |
| Ambassador | 25 July 2006 | 14 July 2010 | ||
| Yuri Merzlyakov | Ambassador | 14 July 2010 | 18 August 2015 | |
| Ambassador | 18 August 2015 | 14 December 2021 | ||
| Vladimir Lipayev | Ambassador | 14 December 2021 | 23 January 2023 | Declared Persona non grata[5] |