On 26 October, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Vasyl Hamianin, head of Ukraine’s diplomatic mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Gabonese Republic on a non-resident basis.
The relevant Decree No. 1069/2026 was published on the website of the Office of the President.
“To appoint the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Vasyl Ivanovych Hamianin, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Gabonese Republic on a non-resident basis,” the document states.
According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Gabon were established on 1 September 1993. The Ukrainian embassy in the country operated from October 2007 until June 2012, after which its work was discontinued.
Vasyl Hamianin is a Ukrainian diplomat and interpreter, and holds a PhD in History. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Minister-Counsellor at the embassy in China.
In July 2021, Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Hamianin as Ukraine’s ambassador to Indonesia. In November 2022, the diplomat also became Ukraine’s representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on a non-resident basis.
In December 2024, the president dismissed him from both posts and appointed him Ukraine’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.