Maria Zakharova
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Maria Zakharova is a Russian diplomat and the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving as the ministry’s principal spokeswoman since August 2015. She is the first woman to have held the post.
Born in Moscow in 1975, Zakharova spent part of her childhood in Beijing and later studied international journalism at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). Before becoming spokeswoman, she headed the press service of Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and subsequently served as deputy director of the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department.
Zakharova has become one of Russia’s most recognisable diplomatic figures, regularly delivering Foreign Ministry briefings and statements on international affairs. She holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Russia has threatened that British military assets could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes using British-supported missiles, following Andy Burnham's agreement to help Kyiv produce long-range Storm Shadow weapons.