Diplomats’ spouses quit Canberra women’s club over Russian ambassador’s wife’s membership
The spouses of the Ukrainian, Italian and Estonian ambassadors to Australia have resigned from a Canberra women’s club after it admitted the wife of Russia’s ambassador, triggering a diplomatic dispute over discrimination and the normalization of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
The Women’s International Club of Canberra accepted Irina Petrakova, wife of Russian Ambassador Mikhail Petrakov, after receiving legal advice that rejecting her because of her country of origin would violate anti-discrimination law, Politico reported on November 3.
Club president Sandie Kaine said Petrakova was admitted in accordance with Australian law and the organization’s constitution.
But Liana Myroshnychenko, wife of Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said her objection was not to Petrakova’s Russian nationality but to her position as the spouse of a diplomat representing the Russian state.
“This is not about a Russian woman simply because she is Russian,” Myroshnychenko wrote in a November 3 email to club members, explaining that she could not remain in an organization alongside the spouse of an ambassador representing a country “that is, at this very moment, destroying my country and devastating the lives of my people.”
She said Russia had killed her cousin, burned a friend alive and taken the lives of numerous friends from school and university.
The dispute also drew criticism from the European Union’s diplomatic mission. EU Ambassador to Australia Lawrence Meredith, speaking on behalf of the bloc’s ambassadors, told Politico they were “deeply disappointed” by the decision.
“The EU can accept no normalization of Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine, whatsoever,” Meredith said.
Founded in 1964, the Women’s International Club of Canberra has more than 300 members from over 50 countries. It organizes social and cultural activities, including book clubs, language groups, tennis and bridge.
The club has previously faced questions about its relationship with Russian diplomatic representatives. Irina Logvinova, wife of a former Russian ambassador, served as its vice president in 2017–2018, three years after Russia annexed Crimea. At the time, she wrote on Facebook that one of her responsibilities was to “promote favorable image of #Russia in #Australia.”
Russian diplomats and their spouses have been largely shunned by Canberra’s diplomatic community since Mikhail Petrakov presented his credentials in September 2025.
The Russian government declined to comment, according to Politico.
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