Former Russian ambassador to Ireland Maxim Peshkov dies aged 76

Darragh Mc Donagh

Former Russian ambassador to Ireland Maxim Peshkov has died aged 76, the country’s foreign ministry has announced.

He had served in Dublin from 2012 up to his retirement in 2017, when he was replaced by the incumbent ambassador, Yury Filatov.

Peshkov was Russia’s ambassador to Ireland during the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was summoned by then-foreign minister Eamon Gilmore on a number of occasions over military actions in Ukraine.

He defended Moscow’s stance in the media and public debates, criticising EU and Western sanctions in response to the annexation of Crimea as counterproductive.

He was also involved in public discourse on Russia’s military intervention in Syria.

Mr Peshkov had previously served as Russia’s ambassador to Tajikistan and was a great-grandson of Russian and Soviet writer Maxim Gorky (Aleksey Peshkov), who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature five times.

He died on Saturday, aged 76. The Russian Foreign Ministry described him as a “brilliant diplomat” who had dedicated his life to serving his country.

It said he had worked in countries with complex domestic political situations that had involved risks to life.

He had received a number of state honours, including the Medal of Friendship and the title of Honorary Worker of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.