| − | '''Maria Zakharova''' is the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. She was born in [[Moscow]] and grew up in [[Beijing]]. The daughter of diplomats, she too is a diplomat, has a PhD in history, and speaks Chinese. From 2005 to 2008, Zakharova served as press secretary of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the [[United Nations]]. In 2013 she was appointed head of the Department of Press and Information in the Russian Foreign Ministry, Additionally, she became responsible for the official pages of the Ministry in [[social network]]s and provided information support to Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergey Lavrov]] while he was traveling abroad. | + | '''Maria Zakharova''' is the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. She was born in [[Moscow]] and grew up in [[Beijing]]. The daughter of diplomats, she too is a diplomat, has a PhD in history, and speaks Chinese. From 2005 to 2008, Zakharova served as press secretary of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the [[United Nations]]. In 2013 she was appointed head of the Department of Press and Information in the Russian Foreign Ministry, Additionally, she became responsible for the official pages of the Ministry in [[social network]]s and provided information support to Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergey Lavrov]] while he was traveling abroad. Zakharova was awarded the rank of diplomatic adviser of the highest class and admission to the Council for Foreign Policy and Defense of Russia. |