Veteran diplomat Sandra Oudkirk takes charge of US Embassy in Kyiv

Senior career diplomat Sandra Oudkirk has been appointed as the new United States Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in Ukraine, the US Embassy in Kyiv announced.

According to the diplomatic mission, she officially assumed her duties earlier this month.

Oudkirk arrives in Kyiv with over 30 years of foreign service experience, having spent the last two years embedded within the US Department of Defence. Since 2024, she has served as the Deputy Director of the George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies, before transitioning to the roles of Civil Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to the United States European Command (EUCOM).

Prior to her defence assignments, Oudkirk held key State Department portfolios in Washington. Her work spanned the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, the Bureau of Energy Resources, and the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, where she managed strategic issues including great power competition, energy security, threat finance, and economic sanctions.

A graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Oudkirk is fluent in English, Chinese, and Turkish. She takes over the interim leadership of the embassy at a critical juncture for US-Ukraine bilateral relations.

By Tamilla Hasanova