| Former Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco | |
|---|---|
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| Location | San Francisco |
| Address | 2790 Green Street San Francisco, CA 94123 |
| Coordinates | 37°47′42″N122°26′42″W / 37.7951°N 122.4450°W /37.7951; -122.4450 |
| Opened | June 23, 1973 |
| Closed | 2017 |
| Consul General | Sergey Vladimirovich Petrov (prior to closing in 2017) |
| Website | sanfrancisco.mid.ru |
TheConsulate General of Russia in San Francisco wasRussia's diplomatic office in the 2790 Green Street building inPacific Heights, San Francisco,California. It was operated by theRussian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[1] The building of the former consulate remains government property of Russia.[2][3]
During theRussian Empire the consulate had jurisdiction over the Honolulu, Portland, and Seattle consulates.[4] During theSoviet Union, the consulate and theNew York consulate were the only active Soviet consulates in the United States.
On February 14, 1852, due to increased activity of theRussian-American Company in California, thegovernment of theRussian Empire appointed entrepreneur William Montgomery Stuart as its first consul in San Francisco.[5] The consulate was responsible for Russian subjects and affairs inArizona,California,Colorado,Idaho,Montana,Nevada,New Mexico,Oregon,Utah,Washington,Wyoming,Hawaii andAlaska.[4]
On October 3, 1853, Andrey Eduardovich Stekl became the consul followed by Peter Kostromitinov from December 28, 1853, until 1862.[5] Kostromitinov was an agent of theRussian-American Company and a manager atFort Ross.[6][7]
From 1862 to 1875, Martin Fedorovich Klinkovstrom was the consul followed by Gustav Newbaum - who was an entrepreneur from theAlaska Commercial Company.[5] While Newbaum was consul, the consulate was located initially at 411 California Street and then later at 418 California Street.[5]
From April 6, 1915, until theFebruary Revolution,Artemy Markovich Vydotsev [ru] was the last consul of the Russian Empire.[5] In November 1924 due to lack of funding the consulate on California Street was closed, which led to the usage ofWilliam Westerfeld House as the consulate.[5][8][9] From 1926 until 1933 Vydotsev and Arthur-Karl Landesen, who had been vice-consul at the Russian Consulate General inHarbin from 1914 to 1921, served as consuls on a voluntary basis.[5][10]
On November 16, 1933, theRoosevelt-Litvinov Agreement was signed in which both sides said they were prepared to negotiate a consular convention.[11][5][12] This led to the first consulate of theSoviet Union in San Francisco being opened on 2563 Divisadero Street in April 1934, with Moses Grigorievich Galkovich as consul from 1934 to 1937.[5][12] At the outbreak ofWorld War II, the consulate quietly fundedisolationist groups such as American Peace Committee, which were committed to keeping America out the war and attempting to block aid to Britain.[citation needed]
DuringWorld War II,Jacob M. Lomakin was the consul from February 1942 until 1944.[13][14] He was active in theLend-Lease program, and at events for raising funds to aid theRed Army.[13] Some of the funding came fromcoalitionanti-fascist organizations, such as thenonpartisanRed Cross Society, theAmerican Russian Institute, and theRussian War Relief.[13][15] Together with progressive cultural figures, and military and governmental officials of theUnited States, Lomakin advocated the opening of theSecond Front in order to relieve military pressure on the Soviet Union.[16][17][18][13]
On August 19, 1948, theUS State Department requested that Jacob Lomakin - who was now consulate general inNew York - be recalled by the Soviets due to his connection with theKasenkina case.[19] The Soviets responded by closing theirNew York and San Francisco consulates on August 25, 1948, and on the basis of reciprocity, the Soviets ordered the US consulate inVladivostok closed and plans for theLeningrad consulate were shelved.[20][19][21][22][8][5][23]
On June 1, 1964, inMoscow the Soviet Union and United States signed a consular convention, allowing for both countries to open consulates outside their national capitals.[5][12] The Soviets were believed to be consideringNew York, San Francisco, and Chicago, while the United States was consideringLeningrad andOdessa.[12] The consular convention wasratified on June 13, 1968, byLyndon B. Johnson, andcame into force on July 13, 1968.[5][24]
In 1971 Alexander Ivanovich Zinchuk became thede facto consul for USSR.[5] Consular relations between the USSR and the US were restored only after 24 years in 1972 during the extensive dialogue between theSoviet Union and United States that year.[25] On June 23, 1973, the consulate moved into its current location, a six-story former apartment building at 2790 Green Street.[26] Zinchuk became the official consul for the USSR in San Francisco.[26]
In 2011 the consulate bought new graniteheadstones, for a total of $20,000, for Russian sailors who died fighting theSan Francisco Fire of 1863.[27] The graves were installed onMare Island inVallejo, California.[27] The city government protested the plan, saying that it goes against historical preservation.[27]
In December 2016, four Russian diplomats posted to the consulate, including achef were declaredpersona non grata due to allegedespionage, in retaliation forRussian interference in theUnited States presidential election.[28][29]
On August 31, 2017, theState Department ordered the consulate closed by September 2, 2017.[30][31] Before the consulate was closed, smoke was seen billowing out of the building, suggesting sensitive materials were being destroyed.[32][33][34]
As of early 2025 the US and Russian governments are in talks with a view to reopening the consulate.[35][36]
In 1987, Ivan N. Miroshkin of theSoviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported that the consulate had been bugged by the United States using a secret tunnel the United States hadbored under the consulate.[34][37]
In 1984, a United States government report indicated that there may have been approximately 50 Soviet spies operating out of the consulate, primarily targetingSilicon Valley.[34][38] Russian diplomats based out of the consulate have also been reportedly mapping where underground nodes connected the nationalfiber-optic communication network, and it was alleged that the network of antennas and other electronic communication equipment on the roof of the consulate were being used to transmit information to submarines or trawlers located off the Pacific coast in international waters.[34][39]
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| William Montgomery Stuart | 1852 February 14 — 1853 |
| Andrey Eduardovich Stekl | 1853 October 3 — 1853 December |
| Peter Kostromitinov | 1853 December 28 — 1862 |
| Martin Fedorovich Klinkovstrom | 1862 — 1875 |
| Gustav Newbaum | 1875 |
| Vladimir R. Artsimovitch[4] | 1899 — 1902 |
| Paul Kosakevitch[4] | 1902 — 1909 |
| Pierre Rogestvensky[4] | 1909 — 1915 |
| Artemy Markovich Vydotsev [ru] | 1915 April 6 —February Revolution 1926 — 1933 (voluntary basis) |
| Arthur-Karl Yulievich von Landesen | 1926 — 1933 (voluntary basis) |
| Moses Grigorievich Galkovich | 1934 — 1937 |
| Jacob M. Lomakin | 1942 February — 1944 |
| Alexander Ivanovich Zinchuk | 1971 (de facto), 1973 (official) |
| Sergey Vladimirovich Petrov[40] | 2013 March 5 — Prior to closing in 2017 |
The State Department didn't immediately identify the diplomats being expelled or say how many were working in San Francisco. All 35, department officials said, 'were acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status,' which is political-speak for spying.
Petrov confirmed that four of the 35 diplomats asked to leave the country work at the San Francisco consulate. Family members of those employees are also leaving [...] Petrov says the consulate's chef is included in the expulsion.
Acrid, black smoke has been seen pouring from a chimney at the Russian consulate in San Francisco a day after the Trump administration ordered its closure on 2-day notice due to espionage and amid escalating tensions between the United States and Russia. The building was seized by the FBI and the consulate closed but residents in the building were allowed to stay until October 1, 2017. The building has a large number of apartments occupied by Russian employees. The Russian flag is still flying on top of the building as of September 24, 2017.
Another official, Ivan N. Miroshkin of the Foreign Ministry's Security Service, said some of the bugging devices had been found at the new Soviet compound in Washington in the last few days, and others had been collected earlier at the consulate in San Francisco, in apartments of Soviet employees of the United Nations, in the trade mission in Washington, and in a country house outside Washington. [...] He said security officers had discovered a tunnel with listening devices under the San Francisco consulate.
In recent years there have been frequent reports that 50 or more spies report to the San Francisco consulate general. Experts on electronic warfare say the consulate is the collection base for extensive electronic surveillance gear operated by spies at work in California, especially in the high-technology Silicon Valley south of San Francisco.
The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would eventually turn up in odd places, often in middle-of-nowhere USA. One was found on a beach, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. In one particularly bizarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, another turned up wandering around in the middle of the desert. Interestingly, both seemed to be lingering where underground fiber-optic cables tend to run.
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