Moscow protests to Bern over vandalised church in Geneva

Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Russia’s embassy in Switzerland has officially protested to the Swiss foreign ministry over the vandalism of a Russian Orthodox church in Geneva last week.

“In the early hours of October 28, 2022, unidentified offenders committed an act of vandalism by splattering paint on the entrance to the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Geneva, which is a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church,” the Russian embassy said.

Following the incident, the embassy sent a note of protest to the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs demanding that urgent measures be taken to identify and punish those responsible for defacing the church.

Geneva cantonal police confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency that they had seen the damage on Friday morning. A complaint has been lodged and an investigation will be carried out, a police spokesperson said.

The church is located in southeast Geneva. Another Russian Orthodox church in Geneva was defaced with paint in 2012.

In May vandals daubed blue and yellow paint – Ukraine’s national colours – on a Russian monument in Switzerland dedicated to soldiers who perished fighting Napoleon’s forces in Switzerland in the 18th century, drawing a complaint from Moscow’s diplomatic mission.

The memorial is carved into the rocks of the Schöllenen Gorge located in the municipality of Andermatt, canton Uri. In October, the monument was vandalised for a second time, the Russian news agency Tass reported on October 28. The Russian foreign ministry urged Switzerland to ensure proper protection of the monument.