A fight erupted between members of the Ukrainian parliament Thursday, following a group of opposition deputies' removal of a poster placed on the tribune calling for the prosecution of a politician with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to a report and video shared by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), tension in the parliament spiked after Nestor Shufrych of the Opposition Bloc removed a poster from the tribune that read, "Putin's agent (Viktor) Medvedchuk must face trial!"
Ukrainian lawmakers were brawling today after deputies from the Opposition Bloc removed a poster calling for the prosecution of a politician tied to #Putin. https://t.co/6CxJsBzvDA pic.twitter.com/8vW6TXgkRa
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) December 20, 2018
Deputies of the People's Front reacted by attacking Shufrych and his supporters, and reattaching the poster to the tribune.
Andriy Parubiy – the spokesman for the Ukrainian Supreme Court, Verhovna Rada – announced a break after members of the People's Front Party and the Opposition Bloc exchanged blows.
Medvedchuk is chairman of the Ukrainian Choice, an organization which is considered by many as pro-Kremlin and anti-Ukrainian, as well as anti-Semitic.
He is also accused of playing a behind-the-scenes role in exchanges of captives between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The Opposition Bloc was founded in 2014 by six parties that do not support pro-EU Euromaidan merge.
Euromaidan is a protest movement that started in the Ukraine House on Nov. 21, 2013, after the Ukrainian government refused to sign the European Union Association Agreement. The protests resulted in ousting of Ukraine's then-President Viktor Yanukovych.
