A fight broke out at a summit in Turkey after a Russian delegate pulled down a Ukrainian flag from a Ukrainian representative amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
The incident occurred at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), when Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Marikovski unfurled his national flag behind a member of the Russian delegation, Olga Timofeeva, as she was being interviewed.
In the video, a member of the Russian team, named Valery Stavitsky, ripped Ukraine’s flag from the hands of Mr. Marikovski and walked off while he was posing for pictures. The Ukrainian delegate immediately gave him a chase and then launched several punches at Stavitsky before retrieving the flag from him.
The pair were later pulled apart by other attendees.
Pictures of the disturbance were posted by the Turkish parliament on its website, and Mustafa Sentop, the parliament’s head, issued a stiff rebuke.
“I condemn this behaviour that disrupts the peaceful environment that Turkey is trying to establish,” he said.
While representatives from the 13 countries in the BSEC met, 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.