A Ukrainian delegate punched a member of the Russian delegation in the face during a meeting of the Black Sea countries in the Turkish capital, Ankara, He took the Ukrainian flag from him because he was trying to disrupt an interview being filmed with the head of the Russian delegation.
Olissandr Marikovsky posted a video clip on his Facebook page showing him beating the Russian delegate and restoring his country’s flag.
The incident took place, Thursday, in the lobby of the Turkish parliament building where a meeting of the 13-nation Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization was taking place.
🥊 In Ankara 🇹🇷, during the events of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Community, the representative of Russia 🇷🇺 tore the flag of Ukraine 🇺🇦 from the hands of a 🇺🇦 Member of Parliament.
— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 4, 2023
The 🇺🇦 MP then punched the Russian in the face. pic.twitter.com/zUM8oK4IyN
Earlier today, some Ukrainian delegates were involved in a physical altercation with security personnel when they attempted to stage a protest by shouting and raising their flags near the main delegate from Russia while she was giving a speech at the meeting.
Pictures of the chaos were posted on the website of the Turkish Parliament.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mustafa Shantoub, strongly criticized what happened, and said, “I deplore this behavior, which disturbs the peaceful atmosphere that Turkey is trying to create.”
