Embassy of Russia, Washington, D.C.

{{Main|Russian ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C.}}

The Russian ambassador's residence is located at 1125 16th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. Built in 1910, this Beaux-Arts mansion served variously as the Russian or Soviet embassy during periods of established relations between 1913 and 1994.

The Russian embassy is situated on "Mount Alto" on Wisconsin Avenue Northwest, built on property leased to the Soviet government for 85 years on the basis of an agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States, concluded in 1969. Under the 1972 agreement, equivalent territory in Moscow was to be leased to the United States for a new embassy on the same conditions. The second agreement also stated that both sides should start using their new buildings simultaneously.

The embassy was designed by well-known Soviet architect Mikhail Posokhin, who designed the State Kremlin Palace and a number of other buildings in Moscow. The residential building, the school, the kindergarten and sports grounds were all complete in 1979. Administrative and ceremonial buildings were finished in 1985.

In the late 1980s, the FBI and the National Security Agency built a tunnel under the compound for espionage purposes,{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1985/09/24/set-the-soviet-embassy-on-its-ear/ |title=Set The Soviet Embassy On Its Ear |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=September 24, 1985 |access-date=November 18, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514112651/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1985-09-24/news/0330170179_1_soviet-embassy-mount-alto-new-soviet|archive-date=May 14, 2010}} but it was never successfully exploited due to FBI agent Robert Hanssen disclosing information about the operation to the KGB.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/04/national/04SPY.html|title=U.S. Thinks Agent Revealed Tunnel At Soviet Embassy |work=The New York Times |date=March 4, 2001|access-date=November 18, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.russiajournal.com/node/6818|title=U.S. officials were given tours of Soviet Embassy spy tunnel - Washington Post|work=The Russia Journal|date=March 10, 2001|access-date=November 18, 2011|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323130726/http://www.russiajournal.com/node/6818|archive-date=March 23, 2012}}

In September 1994, during his visit to the United States, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and U.S. President Bill Clinton inaugurated the new ceremonial building of the Russian Embassy, at Mount Alto.

In 1985, Vitaly Yurchenko redefected here, after eluding his handlers at the Au Pied de Cochon restaurant in Georgetown.{{cite magazine|last=Kelly|first=James|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050566-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314140652/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050566-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 14, 2007|title=The Spy Who Returned to the Cold|magazine=Time |date=April 18, 2005|access-date=November 18, 2011}}{{cite web|last=Grass|first=Mike|url=http://dcist.com/2004/09/an_obituary_yur.php|title=An Obituary: Yurchenko's Au Pied du Cochon|publisher=DCist|date=September 10, 2004|access-date=November 18, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424005418/http://dcist.com/2004/09/an_obituary_yur.php|archive-date=April 24, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2002/jun/6/20020606-031027-3797r/|title=No secrets on cloak & dagger circuit|work=The Washington Times|date=June 6, 2002|access-date=November 18, 2011}}

On February 27, 2018, a one-block section of Wisconsin Avenue in front of the embassy was renamed Boris Nemtsov Plaza in honor of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition activist and vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin who was shot dead by assassins while walking on a bridge near the Kremlin on February 27, 2015. The move to rename the street was initiated by Senator Marco Rubio, who commented that the renaming serves as "an enduring reminder to Vladimir Putin and those who support him that they cannot use murder and intimidation to suppress dissent."{{Cite news|last=Nirappil|first=Fenit|title=Street signs outside Russian embassy in Washington now honor slain dissident|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/street-signs-outside-russian-embassy-in-washington-now-honor-slain-dissident/2018/02/27/159de03e-1bdd-11e8-b2d9-08e748f892c0_story.html|access-date=March 22, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web|date=February 27, 2018|title=Trolling, DC-style: Russian Embassy gets a new street name|url=https://apnews.com/article/2e6e652b16d54d00bb51ae785eeb66ba|access-date=March 22, 2021|website=AP NEWS}}

File:Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington, D.C.jpg|Main compound

File:Russian ambassador's residence - Washington, D.C.jpg|Ambassador's residence

File:Russian Military, Air, and Naval Attache Office.jpg|Military, Air, and Naval Attache Office

File:Information Office - Embassy of Russia in Washington, D.C.JPG|Information Office

File:Russian Trade Representative (Washington, D.C.).JPG|Trade Representative (Lothrop Mansion)

File:Russian Cultural Centre in Washington, D.C..JPG|Russian Cultural Center

• The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in New York
• Russian Embassy School in Washington, D.C.
• List of diplomatic missions of Russia
• Soviet Union–United States relations
• Russia–United States relations
• Embassy of the United States, Moscow
• Amtorg
• Soviet Government Purchasing Commission in the U.S.
• List of ambassadors of Russia to the United States

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