2023-05-05 11:50:02
ISTANBUL (AP) — Delegates from Ukraine and Russia have been separated following an altercation during a summit between the Black Sea countries in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
Oleksandr Marikovsky, a Ukrainian parliamentarian, struck a Russian official several times over the head following he snatched a Ukrainian flag from his hands during a summit in the Turkish parliament on Thursday.
A video posted on Marikovsky’s Facebook page shows the deputy waving the flag behind the Russian delegate, Ola Timofeeva, as she records a video on her cell phone. A man approaches, grabs the flag and is chased by Marikovsky.
During the brief altercation in the parliament hall, Marikovsky retrieves the flag by shoving the man in the face. Others separate them and ask “please, don’t fight”, to which Marikovsky replies: “It’s our flag. We are going to fight for this flag.”
In the text of the post, Marikovsky wrote: “Get the paws off our flag, get the paws off the Ukraine, you Russian garbage!”
The incident occurred at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, a group that encompasses 13 nations, and on the eve of officials from Russia, Ukraine and Turkey meeting in Istanbul to discuss the extension of a deal. to export grain and fertilizer through the Black Sea, which will expire on May 18.
The agreement, closed last July, has allowed ships carrying millions of tons of food for export to safely navigate the Black Sea despite the war in Ukraine.
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