Maria Zakharova was appointed on Monday the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesperson instead of her predecessor Alexander Lukashevich following a decree singed on Monday.

"It is true that a woman is going to head the [Russian Foreign Ministry] press and information department for the first time. But, the Foreign Ministry is inseparable from a woman factor because a huge number of its employees and diplomats who work in the ministry are women, who, by the way, are brilliant experts. It is a myth that diplomacy is not a woman’s profession. I think that it’s time to put an end to it," Zakharova said.
"It is the daily routine work of our diplomats that forms the ministry’s image. That is why I do not think that the gender factor is going to play any major role here," Zakharova went on to say. "But I am accepting greetings also as a representative of the woman’s part of the Russian Foreign Ministry staff," she added.

Maria Zakharova graduated from the international information department of the Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) with a degree in international journalism. Upon graduation, she started working at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In 2005-2008, she headed the press service of Russia’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York.

In 2008-2011, Zakharova held various posts in the foreign ministry’s central administrative office.

She was appointed deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry press and information department in 2011.

Zakharova has a good command of English and Chinese. She is candidate of historical sciences.

Maria Zakharova is a member of the Russian Council for External and Defense Policy and has a diplomatic rank of minister-councilor.