Moscow: The effects and tensions of the war in Ukraine, which is into its 15th month, was felt at a conference in Turkey.
A video has surfaced on social media showing Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Marikovskyi landing blows on an unidentified Russian representative after the latter snatched the Ukrainian flag from him during a conference of Black Sea region countries in the Turkish capital city of Ankara.
Marikovskyi didn’t let go till he recovered possession of the yellow-and-blue flag of his country.
The video clip, first posted on Twitter by Kyiv Post’s special correspondent Jason Jay Smart on Friday, has attracted more than 5.6 million views.
🥊 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
The incident took place during the 61st General Assembly of Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) where nations of Black Sea region gathered to discuss ways to develop multilateral and bilateral ties on economic, technological and social fronts, according to Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu Agency.
Newsweek reported on the incident, citing Marikovskyi’s post of the incident on Facebook.
Russia accused the US of masterminding an Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin, supposedly to kill Vladimir Putin earlier this week.
The US denied the charge, Ukraine also said it had nothing to do with the drone attack.
Moscow warned Kyiv it had the right to respond to the attack as and when it deemed fit.
