Andrey Kelin

Early life and career Born on 15 May 1957, Kelin studied at the Faculty of International Journalism at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979. His early work was in various positions in the ministry, and in overseas embassies, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium. He speaks Russian, English, French and Dutch. He had a second overseas posting between 1990 and 1995 at the Soviet, and later Russian, embassy in Belgium. Part of his brief was the continuing discussions on peaceful settlements in the Transcaucasian region. On 5 November 2019, Kelin was appointed Ambassador of Russia to the United Kingdom. He succeeded Alexander Yakovenko, who had been recalled in August.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion, on 20 June 2022, Kelin received a ban on entering the Westminster Parliamentary Estate alongside all other Russian diplomats in the UK.

In June 2025, Kelin denied that Russian casualties in the war in Ukraine had reached one million, but refused to give actual losses. He told CNN that there were about 600,000 Russian troops in Ukraine, down from 700,000 in June 2024, and that 50–60,000 new troops were being recruited and sent to Ukraine every month, which would suggest that Russia had lost about 250,000 troops since January 2025.

Rank and awards Kelin holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, to which he was appointed on 14 November 2012. Over his career he has been awarded the Order of Honour on 24 October 2017, the Order of Friendship on 18 August 2009, and the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Second Class in 1998.