Russian Ambassador to Egypt Dies at 68

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the on Monday the death of the Russian ambassador to Egypt Sergey Kirpichenko at 68.

He died at a hospital in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Kirpichenko died at the hospital suddenly.

Kirpichenko was born in 1951. In the course of his career, he headed Russian diplomatic missions in the UAE, Libya, and Syria.

In 2011, he was appointed Russia’s Ambassador to Egypt and representative to the League of Arab States.

Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Egypt were established on August 26, 1943.

Egypt has an embassy in Moscow. Russia has an embassy in Cairo and a consulate-general in Alexandria.

Russia's relationship with Egypt developed as both lands underwent prolonged periods of modernization.

Constrained by geopolitical factors in the Middle East, Russia approached Egypt in the late nineteenth century and especially in the first fifteen years of the twentieth century with "soft power."

This approach included mutually beneficial trade relationships, cultural exchanges, and international assistance in the realm of information and technology.

A close examination of the Russo-Egyptian relationship reveals that the Russian Empire was furthering its ends in the Middle East by peaceful means intended to impress the region's societies favorably, a concept sometimes characterized today as "public diplomacy".