Russian and Ukrainian officials got into a fistfight at a conference in Turkey and had to be physically restrained

Ukrainian delegate punches Russian counterpart at Turkey conference

Russian and Ukrainian officials got into a fistfight at a conference in Turkey and had to be physically restrained

posted at 08:11:40 UTC via businessinsider.com

A pair of Ukrainian and Russian officials attending an economic conference in Turkey had to be physically separated after getting into physical and verbal spats. 

According to The Daily Beast, official delegations from Russia and Ukraine were among the attendees at the Summit of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC). In one video from the conference, an apparent Russian official rips a Ukrainian flag from a holster, and the Ukrainian parliament member Oleksandr Marikovski chases him down, initiating a brief fistfight. 

In the video, Marikovski lands a punch on the Russian official and corners him, retrieving the flag before the two are quickly separated by security staff. An earlier video shows officials from the two camps verbally clashing and pushing each other as Russia's Ola Timofeeva speaks during the conference.

—ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) May 4, 2023

After the incident, Marikovski posted a video of the scuffle on his Facebook page, with the caption, "Paws off our flag, paws off Ukraine, Russian filth!," according to HuffPost.