Ukraine and Russia's delegates scuffle at summit in Turkey. MP defends Ukrainian flag

The Turkish Anadolu Agency reported this.

The conflict began during a speech by Olga Timofeeva, a State Duma deputy from the United Russia party, who put a St. George's ribbon on her jacket.

Ukrainian deputies tried to unfurl flags behind her back, and members of the Russian delegation tried to prevent the actions of the Ukrainians. A scuffle broke out with members of the Russian State Duma, one of whom was Alexey Kondratenko.

Then the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament intervened. Mustafa Sentop announced a break and demanded that the delegation, which had violated the rules of the event, be taken out of the hall.

Subsequently, a fight broke out on the sidelines of the event with the participation of Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Marikovsky over the Ukrainian flag, which he had to "reclaim" from a Russian representative who had snatched it from the Ukrainian parliamentarian's hands.

The scuffle occurred when State Duma deputy Olga Timofeeva was giving a commentary. Marikovsky appeared behind her. He was holding a blue and yellow flag and shouting pro-Ukrainian slogans. An employee of the State Duma's international department snatched the flag from his hands, but Marikovsky attacked the man and took the flag away.

"Get your hands off our flag, get your hands off Ukraine, Russian scum!" Marikovsky captioned the video of the incident.

It should be noted that the 61st General Assembly of the PABSEC is taking place in Ankara on May 4-5. On the eve of the event, the Presidium of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People declared that it was inadmissible to confirm the mandates of the members of the Russian national delegation as members of the PABSEC.

Oleksandr Marikovsky described the situation on the eve of the summit on his Facebook page:

"Not so long ago, PABSEC turned from a marginal pro-Russian international organization into a new front for Ukraine. Do you remember about 3-4 months ago, when the Russian delegation left the assembly shouting "Murderers, rapists, looters" and promising not to pay any more contributions? These bitches are coming back. To once again defend their mandates in the organization, which, thanks to our actions, are only 2, when other countries have 5-10. Manipulations are being prepared! But we have flags from Donbas signed by the guys, motivation for victory, team spirit and holy faith in the Armed Forces of Ukraine... So everyone is on their own front! We are fighting for our Black Sea and our Ukrainian influence here."

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) was established on February 26, 1993. After the exclusion of Russia, it consists of 12 countries: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.