Russia To Open Embassy In Comoros By Year End

Moscow will open its first embassy in Moroni, the capital of the Comoros, by the end of the year, according to a Russian government directive.

Comoros is an African island nation made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It is renowned for its beauty and has high-end tourism attractions, not dissimilar to Mauritius.

Russia and the Comoros established diplomatic relations in 1976, but Moscow has never maintained an embassy there. Since the Soviet era, Russia’s ambassador to the Comoros has been accredited from the embassy in Madagascar, which has handled bilateral contacts for decades. The Comoros government sent a formal note to the Russian embassy in Madagascar in March, confirming its support for opening a mission in Moroni.

The Russian directive reads, “The proposal of the Russian Foreign Ministry, agreed upon with the relevant federal executive authorities and the Comorian side, to establish in 2025 a Russian Federation embassy in the Union of the Comoros (Moroni), is hereby approved.”

The step aligns with Moscow’s broader effort to expand its diplomatic footprint across Africa. During talks at the Kremlin in November with Faure Gnassingbe, first president of Togo’s Council of Ministers, President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia and Togo had agreed to reestablish their embassies in 2026.

Russia reopened embassies in Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea in 2024, while missions in South Sudan, Niger, and Sierra Leone are expected to follow. Liberia and the Gambia are also on Moscow’s near-term list.

Russia currently operates 43 diplomatic and consular missions across Africa.