Prince Andrey Yakovlevich Khilkoff (1676–1716) was the Russian ambassador to Sweden.

Biography

In 1697 Prince Khilkov, in the capacity of a

stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

was sent with a number of others to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to study navigation and shipbuilding. Soon after his return to Russia he was sent as ambassador to Sweden (June 1700), and instructed to inform

Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

of the imminent arrival of great envoys (

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

Prince Yakov Dolgrukiy and

okolnichiy Okolnichy (, ) was an old Russian court official position. According to the ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'', directives on the position of ''okolnichy'' date back to the 14th century. Judging by the Muscovite records from the 16th a ...

Prince Fyodor Shakhovsky) for the solemn confirmation of the peace agreements with Sweden.

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

sent an ambassador to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

exclusively in order to lull the Swedish Government into a false sense of security, and to conceal from it his preparations for war with Sweden, which he decided to begin as soon as peace was concluded with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Not finding the King in Stockholm, Prince Khilkov followed the king to the shores of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, and here, on 19 August 1700, on the royal yacht, he gave Charles XII a scroll and according to orders, made a speech in Italian. At the audience which followed on 30 August, the King announced that the message was "very agreeable", and that he recognised Prince Khilkov as an ambassador to his Court. At the very same time, on 19 August, war was declared on Sweden "for their many wrongs" in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and the army was ordered to attack Swedish towns. As soon as the news reached Sweden, a month later the Russian ambassador was arrested and his house put under guard; Prince Khilkov did not protest, telling the Swedish Master of Ceremonies that "in their own country they might do as they pleased". The Swedish Government told Prince Khilkov that it was prepared to exchange him for the Swedish ambassador in Moscow, Knipper, but later refused to do this and Prince Khilkov remained in captivity for 15 years and died there. The Swedes treated Prince Khilkov extremely badly, as they did the Russian generals and officers who fell into their hands later as prisoners of war. Prince Khilkov informed Emperor Peter in 1703 "Better to be a prisoner of the Turks than the Swedes: here a Russian is of no account, they insult and dishonour him; I and the generals are under constant guard; if anyone needs to go somewhere, a guard with a loaded

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

is always with him; they torture our merchants with heavy labours, despite all my representations". In 1711 most of the prisoners of war were exchanged, but Prince Khilkov remained in Sweden. In 1713 he was moved from Stockholm to

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

; "at this time," he wrote to the Emperor', I a prisoner am not able to serve your Highness in any way". However, even in this small provincial town he tried to ascertain and inform Peter of the Swedish political news. In one of his unpublished messages, now in the State archives, we find a report of the Swedish administrative reforms of 1714. "The king recently sent a lieutenant colonel to Stockholm with a number of certificates of rank for his subjects, among which were certificates for a new rank, which has never before existed in Sweden: ombudsrod - a rank nearest to a boyar. Six of these Ombudsrods have been created. Justitiae, Military Affairs, Exchequer, Trade Affairs, First Foreign Affairs, German Affairs". Prince Khilkov died in Västerås in 1716; his body was brought to Petersburg in 1718 and buried in the

Alexander Nevsky monastery Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alex ...

, 18 October 1719. {{DEFAULTSORT:Khilkov, Andrey Yakovlevich 1676 births 1718 deaths Ambassadors of Russia to Sweden Prisoners who died in Swedish detention Andrey Yakovlevich 17th-century Russian diplomats