Education and early career Yatrzhembsky descends from the
szlachta of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was educated at
Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations (MGIMO), allegedly a recruiting ground for the
KGB, under the Soviet Union's
Foreign Ministry in 1976, and as a postgraduate at the
Soviet Academy of Sciences' Institute of the International Workers' Movement in 1979, where he earned a Ph.D. in history. From 1990 to 1991, Yastrzhembsky was the Megapolis magazine's deputy editor-in-chief. Yastrzhembsky was promoted to the diplomatic rank of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, the highest diplomatic rank in the Russian Federation, by the
Decree of the President of Russia of 20 June 1994 No. 1287. Since 13 August 1996, he worked as
President Boris Yeltsin's chief spokesperson. Yastrzhembsky was promoted to the rank of the
1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation, the highest
federal state civilian service rank in the Russian Federation, by the Decree of the President of Russia of 10 March 1997 No. 204. for 14 months before receiving promotion in March 2001 to head the Kremlin's Information Policy Department, co-ordinating all Putin's external communications. Yastrzhembsky worked to lessen the impact the
sinking of the Kursk had upon Putin. That position,
Vedomosti reported on 8 May 2008, would become defunct when he left the post after Putin steps down. Towards the end of his posting to Brussels, Yastrzhembsky warned the EU that recognizing
Kosovo's independence would open a "Pandora's box" of separatism in Europe. In an interview with
Vladimir Pozner, Yastrzhembsky told that
Putin was extremely dissatisfied with his notice of resignation and became angry with him.
Post civil service In 2008 after leaving the civil service, Yastrzhembsky worked to establish a Russian-Italian investment bank which would be supported by both the
Intesa banking group and
VEB.
Yastreb Film In 2009, he established "Yastreb Film" also called the "Sergey Yastrzhembsky Studio" (), which is a company that produces documentaries including the series "Out of Time" which was dedicated to the disappearing peoples of Africa. In 2009, he was involved in making a series of documentary films on traditional African people, entitled "
Beyond the Passage of Time". ==Personal==