Tension between Russia and Ukraine spilled from the battlefield into conference halls during an economic summit in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, this week.
Ukrainian official Oleksandr Marikovskyi thrashed into a Russian representative after the unidentified man ripped a Ukrainian flag from Marikovskyi’s hands during the Summit of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC).
Video of the tussle shows the Russian delegate grab Ukraine’s yellow and blue banner from Marikovskyi before he chases the flag poacher away with punches while shouting.
The scuffle was quickly broken up by a swarm of security guards and other diplomats, but Marikovskyi continued the battle online after posting the video on Facebook with the message, “Paws off our flag, paws off Ukraine, Russian filth!” in his native tongue, according to the Daily Beast.
The Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency published video of an earlier dispute between Ukrainian and Russian officials, which showed people clashing behind Russia’s Ola Timofeeva as she made a speech.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine reached new extremes this week when Moscow accused its enemy of trying to assassinate President Vladimir Putin with two drones aimed at the Kremlin.
“We didn’t attack Putin. We leave it to (the) tribunal,” he said.