Mysterious flag swap during Putin's Kazakhstan trip leads to police probe
Kazakhstan launched investigation after Ukrainian flag replaced Russian colors on big screen during **Vladimir Putinʼs** Astana visit. Local police looking into tech-glitch or hack as possible reasons
In a surprising turn-of-events yesterday a large LED display in Astana showed Ukrainian blue-and-yellow colors instead of Russian tri-color during Vladimir Putinʼs visit to Kazakhstanʼs capital
The eye-catching mix-up happened on one of citys main streets while Putin was already in town (the screen got switched-off right after discovery) but not before social-media users shared pics and videos of the incident all-over the web
Kazakhstanʼs interior ministry started a fact-finding mission focusing on two possible reasons: either tech malfunction or cyber-attack. The incident comes at an interesting time as recent polls show Kazakhs stance on Russia-Ukraine situation:
- Most people stay neutral about the conflict
- Those who pick sides tend to support Ukraine more
- Small number backs Russiaʼs position
The timing of this screen incident affected Kazakhstanʼs money markets too; the local currency tenge hit its lowest-ever mark against US dollar today following Russian roubles drop. This shows how close both countries economies are linked-up since Russia remains one of Kazakhstanʼs key trade buddies
