UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed the Russian ambassador to London to the post of executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Yury Fedotov, 62, will replace Italy's Antonio Maria Costa, who has led the UN body since 2002.
The Russian diplomat is expected to start his new job soon. It is still unclear who will be the new head of the Russian embassy in London.
Established in 1997, UNODC remains a leading international body in drug control and crime prevention.
