Nov. 11 (UPI) — Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died suddenly at age 66, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry did not disclose the cause of Darchiev’s death. In a statement, it called him an “an outstanding diplomat, experienced leader, kind colleague and mentor,” and a “professional of the highest order and a brilliant expert on American affairs.”

Darchiev had served as Russia’s ambassador to the United States since March 2025. He entered diplomatic service in 1992 and served in many roles, including as Russia’s ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021, the Russian Embassy said. He was a former leader of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s North Atlantic Department, based in Washington, D.C.

Darchiev followed Anatoly Antonov as ambassador to the United States. He was a protégé of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov, The Moscow Times reported.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Darchiev called it a “necessary measure,” The Guardian reported. In December 2025, when the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs held a hearing on Russian abductions of Ukrainian children, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-.S.C., invited Darchiev to the hearing, but the ambassador did not attend.

The World Bank reports the average life expectancy for a man in Russia is about 68 years.