See it: Lawmaker in Ukraine punches colleague in brawl at parliament meeting
A Ukrainian parliament member punched his colleague in the middle of a speech Monday accusing him of collaborating with the Kremlin.
Yuriy Boyko stood up during a meeting among party leaders in Kiev and slugged Oleh Lyashko after Lyashko accused him of traveling to Moscow to get orders from Russian officials.
“Instructions must be received from your own people, from Ukrainians,” Lyashko said, according to a translation by Reuters.
"By the way,” Lyashko continued, “I also want to ask the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) why they visit Moscow and are not yet in jail?”
Boyko, leader of the Opposition Party, suddenly got up from the chair next to Lyashko and grabbed him by the back of the neck.
Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party, broke away from his grasp. But Boyko smacked him in the face before other lawmakers could break up the fight. A second fistfight erupted moments later, when Lyashko continued his tirade.
Lyashko, who is known for his populist rhetoric, has brawled before in parliament, where scuffles break out on a regular basis. Boyko’s party comprises the remnants of the Party of Regions, the party of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
Yanukovych, known for his pro-Kremlin views, fled the country for Russia while facing impeachment and possible criminal prosecution in February 2014. Pro-Russian separatists control portions of Eastern Ukraine in an uneasy truce with government troops.
