In March 1940, the Soviet Ambassador to France, Yakov Surits, had been declared persona non grata in his host country. Afterwards, the Soviet Chargé d’Affaires in Vichy, Alexander Bogomolov, maintained contacts with the Vichy Regime. In March 1941, Bogomolov was promoted to Soviet Ambassador to France.[10] The Vichy Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Gaston Bergery, only arrived in Moscow in late April 1941.