MoscowAlexander Darchiev, 66, had been ambassador since March 2025.
He represented Russia in Washington throughout the warming between the Kremlin and the White House.
He twice directed the foreign ministry’s North America department and was ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cited a chronic illness, though the ministry’s statement said only that he died suddenly.
The statements published so far name no successor.
How each outlet framed it
drawn from 350+ reports worldwide
- The New York Times
- Hindustan Times
- Yahoo News
- recalls Darchiev's 'stinging condemnations of the West' and Churkin's 2017 death as a precedent for sudden diplomatic deaths
- Al Jazeera Online
- notes Darchiev called Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine a 'necessary measure', putting his record on the war in the obituary
Sources: The New York Times, Hindustan Times, Yahoo News, Al Jazeera Online