A Ukrainian member of parliament landed several blows to the head of a Russian official
A Ukrainian flag was ripped during a summit
The outburst happened at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
A raucous fistfight and slap-fest erupted on Thursday in the hallways of Black Sea cooperation talks in Ankara, Turkey.
A video of the brawl was shared on the Facebook page of the Ukrainian delegate, Oleksandr Marikovski, who was involved in the brawl.
Ukrainian, Russian Delegates Spark Brawl During Summit
The altercation occurred in the lobby when the Russian delegate's secretary, Valery Stavitskiy, stole away a Ukrainian flag that was being held up for a photo op, and Marikovski grabbed it back, striking and slapping the Russian in the process.
According to Russia's TASS news agency, the consul and a doctor arrived at the hotel to attend to Stavitsky following the incident. Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed the footage to CBS News on Friday, questioning if Americans or any other country would tolerate the removal of their flag.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's first Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed the footage as well, telling CBS News that "that was the pinnacle of the whole day" of what he called Ukrainian provocations during the conference.
Previously, members of Ukraine's parliament hoisted a Ukraine flag at their table before Turkey's parliament speaker Mustafa Sentop yanked it and subsequently chastised some of the Ukrainian delegates' "provocative and physically aggressive behavior."
Both the Ukrainian and Russian UN Ambassadors made it clear that the fight did not take place at the negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, which are also taking place on Friday, and where the UN, Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia are meeting to attempt to save the grain deal, which is up for renewal on May 18.
The scuffles occur as the senior United Nations trade official, Rebeca Grynspan arrives in Moscow to ease Russia's concerns about the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the UN confirmed to CBS News on Friday morning.
The agreement, reached in July, has allowed cargo ships to securely move millions of tons of food for export via the Black Sea, despite Ukraine's war. Earlier in the day, Ukrainian delegates disrupted Timofeeva's speech to the assembly, waving Ukraine's yellow and blue flag by her side as she spoke, Khaleej Times reported.
Russia-Ukraine War
Notwithstanding Ukraine's ongoing crisis, the arrangement, which was initially agreed upon in July of last year, has allowed cargo ships to securely transport millions of tonnes of food for export across the Black Sea.
The summit opened with a commotion on Thursday when Ukrainian delegates raised their country's yellow and blue flags by Timofeeva's side as she addressed the conference.
In a tweet, Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop denounced the "provocative and physically aggressive acts of several members of the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation."
Meanwhile, air alerts have been issued in the majority of Ukrainian districts, including Kyiv, the capital city.
There has been a considerable increase in the number of alerts issued in recent days, after Russia's accusation that Ukraine attempted to murder President Putin in a drone strike early Wednesday morning, which Kyiv denies. Kyiv alone has issued six notifications in the last three days warning of impending Russian assault, as per Daily Express.
