New Delhi: In an event in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Marikovskyi can be seen punching a Russian representative who snatched the Ukrainian flag from his hands during a conference. The video that is going viral on the internet was tweeted on Twitter by Jason Jay Smart, who is a special correspondent for the Kyiv Post and a political adviser.
He shared the video with the caption, ” 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. The MP then punched the Russian in the face.”
🥊 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.
The 🇺🇦 MP then punched the Russian in the face. pic.twitter.com/zUM8oK4IyN
— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 4, 2023
A video from the summit shows an unidentified Russian diplomat approaching Marikovskyi, who was holding his country’s flag. The Russian official grabbed Marikovskyi’s flag, but Marikovskyi responded by pushing and punching the envoy in the face in order to regain the flag.
The incident heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine, which have been exacerbated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing battle in Eastern Ukraine. The conflict started in February of last year and has since spread to major cities like Kyiv, Kherson, Odesa, and Bakhmut.
