MOSCOW. June 8 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
"To award the following diplomatic ranks: the rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova, the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Putin said in his executive order of June 8.
Zakharova began serving as deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's information and press department in 2011, and then became department director in August 2015.
In May 2020, Putin awarded Zakharova an Order of Merit "for her major contribution to the implementation of Russian foreign policy and many years of diligent diplomatic service."
Putin also awarded the same rank to three other diplomats: Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Ignatov, Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Sergei Kuznetsov, and Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yury Materiy.