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Ukrainian politicians beat up the Russian delegation after the Ukrainian flag that was flown at an international conference in Turkey was taken away. Photo/via Sydney Morning Herald
ANKARA – A politician Ukraine chasing and beating delegates Russia in a fight in the middle of an international parliamentary conference in Türkiye.
The fight, video footage of which has gone viral, came after a Russian delegation seized the Ukrainian national flag that was flying a Kiev politician at the forum.
Quoting the New York Times, Friday (5/5/2023), the incident occurred on the sidelines of the “Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation” conference in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday.
One of the videos circulating shows a woman in a blue suit filming herself on a cellphone camera as a member of the Ukrainian Parliament raises the Ukrainian flag behind her.
The second man, identified by the TASS news agency as the secretary of the Russian delegation, then walked up and snatched the flag from the Ukrainian politician’s hands.
As the Russian delegation walked away carrying the yellow and blue flags, the enraged member of Ukraine’s Parliament chased him, then beat him and took the flag back to shreds.
“What did you do with the Ukrainian flag?” shouted a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, Oleksandr Marikovski. “This is our flag.”
Video of the fight was posted on Marikovski’s Facebook page and also widely circulated on social media.
The TASS news agency identified the woman in the video as Olga Timofeeva, a member of the Russian delegation, and said she was recording a broadcast interview at the time of the incident.
The media identified the man who took the Ukrainian flag as Valery Stavitsky, secretary of the Russian delegation, and said he was taken to hospital for medical treatment after being beaten.
Earlier on Thursday, TASS reported that members of the Ukrainian Parliament tried to “interrupt” a Russian official’s speech by flying the Ukrainian flag. The incident also resulted in a physical altercation.
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