The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, has died after he was shot by a gunman.

The Ministry confirmed this in a statement released through a spokesperson, Maria Zakharova.

"Today in Ankara as a result of an attack, the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkey, Andrey Gennadyevich Karlov, received a wound from which he died," Zakharova said.

"We regard this as a terrorist act."

Karlov was shot earlier on Monday at an art gallery in Ankara by a gunman shouting "Don't forget Aleppo".