The Embassy of Australia in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The current head of post and Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation is John Geering. The embassy serves as the diplomatic mission for Australia to the Russian Federation,

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

and

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. The chancery is located at 10A/2 Podkolokolny Lane () in the

Tagansky District Tagansky District () is a administrative divisions of Moscow, district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Moscow, Russia, located between the Moskva River, Moskva and Yauza Rivers near the mouth of th ...

. Australia opened diplomatic relations with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1942. Between 1942 and the present day, the embassy has undergone numerous changes to both location and function as a result of changing relations between the two nations. These include changes to the status of the embassy – from unofficial diplomatic mission to

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

and finally

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

, changes to the nations the embassy is responsible for servicing, and specific events in the Australia-Russia relationship that have modified the operation of the embassy, the most notable of which being the

Petrov Affair The Petrov Affair was a Cold War spy incident in Australia, concerning the defection of Vladimir Petrov, a KGB officer, from the Soviet embassy in Canberra in 1954. The defection led to a Royal Commission and the resulting controversy contribu ...

which culminated in the expulsion of the embassy and the cessation of official diplomatic relations between Australia and the Soviet Union in 1954.

History

Russian Empire (1803–1917)

Though Australia and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

had held ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'' relations since 1803, official relations between the

Australian colonies The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...

and the empire were not made until 1857, with the appointment of two honorary

consuls A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

to Australia by the Russian Empire; James Damyon in Melbourne and E.M. Paul in Sydney. In 1890, the Russian government in Saint Petersburg concluded that Anglo-Russian relations in the south Pacific were important enough to appoint a career diplomat to represent the Russian Empire in the Australian Colonies. The Imperial Ministry for Foreign Affairs established the position of Imperial Russian Consul to the Colonies in Melbourne. Despite the establishment of official relations between the two nations, no permanent embassy or ambassadorial position was ever established by the Australian colonies of the Commonwealth of Australia in the Russian Empire.

Soviet Union (1917–1954)

After the defeat of the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

in 1922, the United Kingdom recognised the

as the legitimate successor of the Russian Empire in 1924. Following the outbreak of the Second World War and the land invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany, the Labor government of John Curtin began to discuss the opening of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The ''Congress of Friendship and Aid to the Soviet,'' a body created by the NSW Aid Russia Committee, requested, among other requests of aid and support, the posting of Australian diplomats to the Soviet Union. In May, 1942, Dr H.V. Evatt, the Australian

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

began backdoor negotiations in London with the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs,

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

for the establishment of formal relations between the two nations and the exchange of representatives. Despite this, there were no official bilateral relations between the Soviet Union and Australia until 1942, where the Labor government of John Curtin appointed William Slater as a diplomatic representative of Australia to the Soviet Union. On 2 January 1943, Australia opened the Australian

Legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

in Kuybyshev, the temporary seat of the Russian government due to the ongoing invasion of the Soviet Union by the Axis powers. The legation then moved to Moscow on 12 August 1943. The legation was upgraded to the status of embassy on 16 February 1948.

Expulsion (1954–1991)

On 3 April 1954, Vladimir Petrov, the third secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra defected at the end of his three-year appointment, fearing execution for his association with former head of the NKVD Lavrentiy Beria. The

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...

assisted with his defection and Australia granted Petrov (and later his wife)

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

in Australia. The Australian government refused to turn over Petrov to the Soviets, and in retaliation on 23 April the Soviet government severed diplomatic relations with the Australia, including closing the Australian Embassy in Moscow. The embassy was given "two or three days" to leave the Soviet Union and the forty-eight embassy staff and their families were forced to board overnight trains from Moscow to

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki () is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipality, with million in the capital region and ...

. In this period, Australian diplomatic representation was provided by the United Kingdom's Embassy in Moscow. Relations between the Soviet Union and Australia were re-established on 13 March 1959 and the Australian Embassy in Moscow was reopened that year. The newly reopened Australian Embassy in Moscow was placed under

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

, a temporary situation where the head of post of an embassy is not the official ambassador to the host nation and is instead only the Chief of Mission of the embassy itself. This situation was rectified by 29 July 1960 with the appointment of Sir John Keith Waller as the Australian ambassador to the Soviet Union. Relations between Australia and the Soviet Union were seen as stronger in this period than they were previously. On 3 July 1974, the Labor government of Gough Whitlam decided to grant the

recognition of the incorporation of the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the Soviet Union. The Australian ambassador to Moscow subsequently visited

Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, in an effort to legitimise the move by the Whitlam government. This recognition was rescinded in 1975 by the Liberal-National government of Malcolm Fraser. Between the reopening of the embassy to the Soviet Union and the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, the embassy frequently provided foreign affairs assistance to the Australian Government. An example of this is the Australian Government's protest over the treatment of Russian nuclear physicist

Andrei Sakharov Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet Physics, physicist and a List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he was awarded in 1975 for emphasizing human rights around the world. Alt ...

. Sakharov was arrested by the Soviets in 1980 for publicly protesting over the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

. In 1984, when his wife was refused permission to travel to the United States for heart surgery, he began a four-month

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

in prison leading to his isolation in prison and authorities force-feeding Sakharov. In response to this, the Australian Government pressured the Soviet Government to release Sakharov from

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

and allow his wife to travel abroad. The embassy and Australian ambassador to the Soviet Union raised the issue with Soviet authorities on multiple occasions following the Australian Government's official condemnation of the situation on 30 May 1984.

Russian Federation (1991–present)

Australia recognised the

as the legitimate successor state to the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991 and the Australian Embassy in Moscow serves as the ambassadorial posting for Australia in Russia. As a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the embassy ceased services to the Baltic states of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, with these nations now being served by their own consulates. In 2002, the Australian Foreign Minister,

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...

opened the current chancery and announced the opening of a second diplomatic mission in

Saint Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. The embassy also used to provide diplomatic and consular service with Ukraine until the Australian Government opened a permanent embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine in November 2014.

Modern usage

The embassy currently provides services diplomatic relations with Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The embassy is broken into three sections: political, consular, and Austrade. The political section of the embassy is headed by the deputy head of mission and is tasked with advancing the bilateral relations between Australia and the countries the embassy is tasked with servicing. The consular section of the embassy is headed by the Consul and Senior Administrative Officer and is tasked with providing consular support to Australians living in any of the countries that the embassy services. These services include legal advice, provision of

Australian passport An Australian passport is a travel document issued by the Australia, Commonwealth of Australia to individuals holding any form of Australian nationality law, Australian nationality. The document facilitates access to consular assistance from Li ...

s, enabling Australians overseas to vote, provision of notarial services and providing details of local doctors and hospitals in the event of medical emergencies for Australians living or holidaying in countries services. The

Austrade The Australian Trade and Investment Commission, or Austrade ( ), is the Australian Government's trade, investment and education promotion agency which was also given responsibility for tourism policy, programs and research from 2013. Austrade ...

section of the embassy is headed by the Senior Trade Commissioner and is tasked with the establishing and maintaining of business and investment links between Australia and countries serviced. This includes promoting Australian education to prospective students in the region, providing business assistance for Australian exporters operating in the region and the marketing of Australian industry to businesses operating in the region. Due to the impact of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, many of the embassy's normal functions (including the issuing of passports and the provision of notarial services) have been suspended.

Head of post

The head of post of the embassy is typically also the Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation (previously the Soviet Union). Since the establishment of official diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1942, there have been a total of 24 Ambassadors. Of these, only five have not held the role of Ambassador and held the post under

. The current head of post is Ambassador John Geering. Australian ambassadors to the Russian Federation hold resident accreditation to the Russian Federation, as well as non-resident accreditation to the Republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

(not a nation serviced by the embassy, instead serviced by the Australian Embassy in Kyiv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Turkmenistan. This non-resident accreditation means that the role of the Ambassador to Russia also serves in the role of non-resident Ambassador to these nations indirectly. In June 2020, the ambassador signed a joint statement with top diplomatic officials from other western nations condemning the Russian Federation's treatment of members of the LGBTQI+ community within Russia.

Consulates

In addition to the embassy in Moscow, the Australian Government also maintains

s in

Almaty, Kazakhstan Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, near the border with ...

and

Vladivostok, Russia Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

, each with their own

honorary consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

s. The consulate in Almaty, Kazakhstan is located at Esentai Tower, 77/7 Al-Farabi Avenue, Almaty (Kazakh: Есентай мұнарасы, Әл-Фараби даңғылы, 77/7) and was originally established as an embassy to Kazakhstan in 1995. However, the embassy was closed in 1999 by the Australian government due to "resource constraints". The consulate in Saint Petersburg, Russia is located at 11 Moika Street, Saint Petersburg (Russian: Улица Мойки, 11). Its opening was announced in 2002 and it continues to provide consular support today. The consulate in Vladivostok, Russia is located at 42 Prospect Krasnogo Znameni, Vladivostok (Russian: проспект Красного Знамени, 42). These consulates are able to provide visa and passport processing as well as visa legitimisation, however, the services that the consulates may provide are limited in scope. As such, most notary services as well as passport applications are typically conducted through the embassy in Moscow.

References

External links

*
Embassy of Australia in Moscow
{{Diplomatic missions in Russia Australia–Russia relations

Australia–Soviet Union relations