Fighting breaks out among members of Ukraine's ruling coalition after a member of President Petro Poroshenko's bloc physically picked up prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and pulled him from the podium
Rada deputy Oleg Barna attempts to drag prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk from the floor's podium in Ukraine's upper house of parliament.
According to
The Telegraph, fight erupted in Ukraine's upper house of parliament on Friday when a member of the legislature attempted to drag prime minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk from the floor's podium after giving the government leader a bouquet of flowers.
Yatsenyuk was delivering an annual report recapping the work of his government when a deputy representing president Petro Poroshenko's political bloc in parliament approached the stage to drag Yatsenyuk away. The incident sparked a wider fist fight between deputies on the floor.
Oleg Barna's attack on Arseny Yatsenyuk sparked a wider fist fight between deputies on the floor
Yatsenyuk's own faction in parliament has been at odds with a group loyal to Poroshenko amid growing concern and public discontent over Ukraine's still-rampant levels of corruption. Mr Yatsenyuk in his speech insisted the government does not have the power to prosecute corruption cases.
"Who prosecutes? Prosecutors do. So who is in charge? The General Prosecutor's office. The president appoints the prosecutor general," Mr Yatsenyuk was quoted as saying in his report by the Kiev Post, a local English-language newspaper.
Ukrainian lawmakers clashing during prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk annual statement
The head of the Poroshenko Bloc, Yury Lutsenko, later apologised to Yatsenyuk for the brawl. "Being a supporter of Yatsenyuk's resignation myself, I believe that the flowers incident and fight will only increase his chances to stay in the position," Lutsenko wrote on his Facebook page.
Watch below;