MOSCOW. Oct 12 (Interfax) - Moscow views the removal of Russian flags from diplomatic buildings in the United States as an act of insulting Russian state symbols, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing on Thursday.
"Yesterday, we learned about a new move of the U.S. authorities regarding our diplomatic facilities, which I can officially call hostile: the Russian flags were torn off the buildings of the Russian Trade Mission in Washington and the Consulate General in San Francisco previously seized by U.S. security service agents," Zakharova said.
"We view this as an act of insulting Russian state symbols, and have notified the U.S. of our strong protest. Of course, Russia never gave its consent to remove the flags," she said.