Moscow names veteran diplomat as ambassador to Prague

Anna Vladimirovna Ponomareva has been appointed Russia’s new ambassador to the Czech Republic, according to a decree issued by the President of the Russian Federation on December 23, 2025. 

The appointment was formally announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press service.

Ponomareva, a career diplomat, graduated from Charles University in Prague in 1994. She speaks English, Italian, Slovak and Czech, and has served in the diplomatic service since the same year. In February 2017, she was awarded the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, 2nd Class.

Her professional background includes a series of positions both within the central administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at overseas missions. Between 2012 and 2016, Ponomareva worked at the Russian Embassy in the Czech Republic, where she held the posts of senior adviser and minister-counsellor. From 2018 to 2025, she served as deputy director of the Foreign Ministry’s Third European Department.

Her new appointment marks her return to Prague in a senior diplomatic capacity.

By Tamilla Hasanova