Swiss flag on embassy not a good idea

Twitter: Ilya Novikov @vertiporokh

What seemed to be a good idea at the time, may have been risky.

When the Swiss embassy in Kyiv was evacuated a few weeks after the start of the war, the ambassador, Claude Wild, ordered the Swiss flag to be placed on the roof. 

The idea was it would be recognized by the Russians as the property of a neutral country. 

But a Ukrainian blogger pointed out a potential misstep. He tweeted the Russians have been targeting hospitals, despite international laws against such action, and the Swiss flag could be mistaken for the Red Cross. 

The blogger Ilya Novikov also pointed out the Russians aren’t respecting diplomats either. 

On seeing the tweet – the ambassador called for the flag to be removed from his temporary home in Moldova. 

The embassy is now staffed once again. 

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