The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Moscow is the chief

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 ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 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 ...

. It is located in the

Arbat District Arbat District () is a administrative divisions of Moscow, district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population: The district extends from central Mokhovaya Street west to Novoar ...

of Moscow, on Smolenskaya Embankment of the river Moskva. The current ambassador is

Nigel Casey Nigel Philip Casey (born 29 May 1969) is a British diplomat, who has been His Majesty's Ambassador to the Russian Federation since November 2023. He served as the British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from September 2011 until 2013, and ...

History

Before the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

of 1917, the British embassy in Russia was seated in

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

, in a palace overlooking the Troitsky Bridge. Diplomatic relations were broken off when the last ambassador, Sir George Buchanan, left Moscow on 26 December 1918. In 1924, after 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 ...

, the UK was the first foreign power to recognize the new Soviet government, sending an ambassador to Moscow in 1924. In 1929, the UK was provided with a mansion on the Sofiyskaya Embankment, on the Island (''Zamoskvorechye)'', near the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

in Moscow. The mansion was built in 1893 for the sugar magnate, Pavel Kharitonenko, and claimed by the state in 1917 following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. The British embassy remained there until 2000, after which it has solely served as the British ambassador's residence. In the mid-1960s, the present embassy site at 10 Smolenskaya Embankment, near the

Novoarbatsky Bridge Novoarbatsky Bridge () is a road bridge that crosses the Moskva river in Moscow. It is located between the Western ( Kutuzovsky Prospekt) and Central Administrative Okrugs (Novy Arbat). It is one of the first bridges in Russia with an all-welded ...

, comprising 2.27 acres (0.92 hectares), was offered to the British Government, but it was not until March 1987 that an agreement was signed for the land to be exchanged for two sites in London. The architects for the new embassy were Ahrends, Burton and Koralek (ABK) of London and Dublin, and the new complex was officially opened by

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

on 17 May 2000. The present embassy building contains offices for 250 staff; 31 flats for staff and facilities for their recreation and welfare, including a swimming pool and cafeteria, medical centre and kindergarten, workshops and stores; and covered car parking for 85 cars. In 2007, a sculpture by Andrey Orlov of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

and

Doctor Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

, as portrayed by

Vasily Livanov Vasily Borisovich Livanov (; born 19 July 1935), MBE, is a Soviet and Russian film actor, animation and film director, screenwriter and writer most famous for portraying Sherlock Holmes in the Soviet TV series. He was named People's Artist of ...

and

Vitaly Solomin Vitaly Mefodievich Solomin (; 12 December 194127 May 2002) was a Soviet and Russian actor, director and screenwriter, best remembered for playing Dr. Watson in a series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations for Soviet television. He was the younger b ...

, was erected on the embankment alongside the embassy. In July 2022, the city authorities renamed the section of the Smolenskaya Embankment where the embassy stands to the Luhansk People's Republic Square, celebrating the

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR; , ) is a disputed territory administered as a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitar ...

; the embassy stated that it would continue to use the previous address. At the same time, Moscow renamed an intersection near the

United States Embassy The United States has the second largest number of active diplomatic posts of any country in the world after the People's Republic of China, including 272 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 174 countries, as well as 11 permanent miss ...

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

Square. The Moscow authorities stated that this was in retaliation for a one-block section of Wisconsin Avenue in front of the Embassy of Russia, Washington, D.C., being renamed in honor of

Boris Nemtsov Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov; (9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist, liberalism in Russia, liberal politician, and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Early in his political career, he was involved in the introduction of reform ...

, a former Russian First Deputy Prime Minister shot dead by assassins in 2015.Fenit Nirappil
"Street signs outside Russian embassy in Washington now honor slain dissident"
''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', accessed 22 March 2022

Outside Moscow

Outside Moscow, there is currently one British

Consulate-General 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 ...

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

where the senior officer is the Consul-General. A British Consulate-General in Saint Petersburg was established in 1992, but it was closed in 2018 because of a diplomatic fallout following the poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer in the United Kingdom.

References

External links

British Embassy Moscow
Russia–United Kingdom relations Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations

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 ...

Arbat District Buildings and structures completed in 2000 {{UK-gov-stub

History

Outside Moscow

See also

References

External links