A Ukrainian MP punched a Russian diplomat in the face at an international conference yesterday after the Moscow representative snatched a flag.
The fight broke out at a gathering of Black Sea nations in Turkey after Oleksandr Marikovsky held up the flag for a picture.
The blue and yellow emblem was then snatched from his hands before being carried away by the unnamed Russian delegate.
Marikovsky proceeded to chase after the diplomat, punching him in the face as he sought to retrieve the flag.
The blue and yellow emblem was then snatched from his hands before being carried away by the unnamed Russian delegate
Reuters
The incident took place in a hallway of the parliament building, where the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) assembly was being held.
The Ukrainian MP posed the video on his own Facebook page.
Security staff attempted to intervene to stop the fight from escalating.
Earlier in the day, some Ukrainian delegates scuffled with security officers who had tried to pull them away as they staged a protest, shouting and holding their flags next to Russia's lead delegate as she tried to address the assembly.
Pictures of the disturbance were posted by the Turkish parliament on its website.
A break was announced following the disruption with the delegation told to leave the hall.
Mustafa Sentop, the parliament's head, criticised the spat and said Turkey was focused on peace.
"I condemn this behaviour that disrupts the peaceful environment that Turkey is trying to establish," he said.
Security staff attempted to intervene to stop the fight from escalating
Reuters
While representatives from the 13 countries in the BSEC met on Thursday, Russian drones continued to attack the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
There are currently no peace talks to end the war, which has devastated Ukrainian towns and cities, killed thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.
Earlier this year Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was "not interested" in meeting with Vladimir Putin for peace talks and was focused on winning the war.
