Ex-Austrian minister who moved to Russia named ambassador for tigers

A former Austrian foreign minister who had Russian President Vladimir Putin as a guest at her wedding has been named the Kremlin leader's goodwill ambassador to raise awareness for tiger conservation.

Karin Kneissl, who lives in Russia, will specifically focus on protecting the Amur tiger, a species once common in Siberia that has seen its numbers dwindle, Russian state news agencies reported on Tuesday.

Sergei Aramilev, the general director of the Amur Tiger Center in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok, said that Kneissl would help the centre in international matters, the Ria Novosti agency reported.

Kneissl was Austria's foreign minister between 2017 and 2019. She served in the government led by the far-right Freedom Party, although she was not a party member.

Kneissl danced with Putin at her 2018 wedding in Austria - a move that attracted international criticism.

In June, the 59-year-old said at the international economic forum in St Petersburg that she was happy to have a new opportunity to live and work in Russia.

The Amur tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is the largest feline predator in the world. Kneissl said in September 2022 at an economic forum in Vladivostok that she would like to take on a role to protect big cats in Russia.