Dr Olexander Shcherba was born on 22 June 1970 in Kyiv. In 1993, he graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in philology and obtained the qualification of teacher of German and English. He holds a PhD in Political Science.

A career diplomat.

From 1996 to 2000, he served at the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany as Attaché and Third Secretary.
From 2004 to 2008, he was Counsellor at the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States of America, responsible for relations with the U.S. Congress and Jewish organizations.
From 2014 to 2021, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Austria.

He held senior positions in the central apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, in particular at the Department of the European Union, the Political Department, and the Department of Public Diplomacy and Communications. He also acted as speechwriter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Anatoliy Zlenko.

By Decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy of 21 July 2025, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of South Africa.

He holds the diplomatic rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, First Class.

Married, with two children.

Author of the book "Щеплення від мороку" (“Vaccination Against Darkness”- Ukrainian Language) (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2020), which was included in the top 20 best books of the year by PEN Ukraine. In 2021, the German publishing house Ibidem released his English-language book “Ukraine vs. Darkness. Undiplomatic Thoughts”.