All news

Putin relieves senior Russian diplomat Oleg Syromolotov of his post due to retirement

Oleg Syromolotov turns 70 on Friday

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has relieved Oleg Syromolotov of his post as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister for Counterterrorism, according to the relevant decree published on Friday.

"[I hereby decree] that Oleg Vladimirovich Syromolotov be relieved of his post as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister for Counterterrorism," the text of the presidential decree reads.

It takes effect as of the day it was signed.

Syromolotov turns 70 on Friday. According to a law signed in 2022 by Putin, this is the upper retirement age for certain categories of civil servants. Syromolotov was born on May 19, 1953 in the then-Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1976, he graduated from the Riga Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers. In 1979-1998, he held operational and executive positions in state security bodies. In 2000-2004, Syromolotov was deputy director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and head of the FSB counterintelligence department. From 2004 to 2015, he served as head of the FSB Counterintelligence Service. On March 19, 2015, he was appointed Russian Deputy Foreign Minister for Counterterrorism. He holds the rank of army general.