Swiss Cold War bunkers back in vogue as Ukraine conflict rages

MEYRIN, April 2, (AFP) - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reawakened interest in Switzerland's concrete nuclear fallout shelters, built during the Cold War with enough space to shelter everyone in the country.

Since the 1960s, every Swiss municipality has had to build nuclear bunkers for their residents, while such shelters have also been mandatory in all homes and residential buildings over a certain size built since then.

The shelters have become an integral part of the Swiss identity, on a par with the country's famous chocolate, banks and watches.

But the underground spaces, long seen as a quirky curiosity mostly used for storage or as very well-protected wine cellars, are being viewed in a new light since Russia invaded Ukraine on

February 24.

Just days into the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin put the country's strategic nuclear forces on high alert, sparking global alarm.

Fierce fighting near Ukraine's nuclear power plants, including Chernobyl -- the sight of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986 -- have also heightened fears that even traditionally neutral Switzerland could be affected by the war.

“People are discovering that Ukraine is very nearby,” Marie Claude Noth-Ecoeur, who heads civil and military security services in the mountainous southern Wallis region, told AFP.

The wealthy Alpine country has pledged that each and every resident will have a shelter space if needed.