Russian and Ukrainian diplomats tussled over the flag of Ukraine at a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Community in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday.

A representative from Ukraine was posing for a photograph while holding the flag when a representative from Russia walked over, ripped the flag away, and walked toward an exit. The Ukrainian member chased him, throwing several punches at the Russian’s head before taking the flag back.

Bystanders rushed in to pull the men apart and keep them separated.

🥊 In Ankara 🇹🇷, during the events of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Community, the representative of Russia 🇷🇺 tore the flag of Ukraine 🇺🇦 from the hands of a 🇺🇦 Member of Parliament.

The 🇺🇦 MP then punched the Russian in the face. pic.twitter.com/zUM8oK4IyN

— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 4, 2023

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation was founded in 1993 to foster cooperation and closer economic ties between countries in the region. Russia and Ukraine were two of the founding members along with Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, and Turkey. The group has since expanded to include Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year strained those relationships, according to The Telegraph.

At an event and during remarks from a Russian diplomat, some of Ukraine’s delegation rushed into the room shouting and waving a Ukrainian flag. The Ukrainians protested another time when a member of the Russian delegation addressed the assembly while wearing a St George’s ribbon, which the Ukrainians saw as a symbol of Russian aggression.

The Ukrainians were so enraged that they pushed away security personnel who stepped in to quiet the conference. The speaker of the Turkish parliament, Mustafa Sentop, ejected the Ukrainians and instructed delegates to protest orally.

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“There is nothing wrong with this. If attempts are made to hold actions, the site of today’s meeting will cease to be a parliamentary event and turn into a street movement,” he said.

The tensions at the assembly come on the heels of Russia accusing Ukraine and the U.S. of collaborating on an attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin by sending two drones to the Kremlin. Moscow reported shooting down two drones that flew over the Kremlin earlier this week, causing them to crash into the building. The Kremlin said that the incident did not harm any people or property.

The U.S. and Ukraine have both denied any involvement in the alleged incident.

“Mr. Peskov is lying, obviously. It’s a ludicrous claim. The United States had nothing to do with this. We don’t even know exactly what happened here,” U.S. national security spokesman John Kirby told CNN Thursday morning, referring to a Kremlin spokesman. “I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever.”

“We neither encourage nor enable Ukraine to strike outside Ukraine’s borders,” he added.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) released a new statement Thursday afternoon regarding her continued absence from the Senate as she battles health problems, saying that her departure has not slowed down Democrats’ ability to confirm judges to federal courts.

The statement from Feinstein, 89, comes as she has faced calls in recent weeks from Democrats and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley to resign while she continues to recover in California from a case of the shingles.

“The Senate continues to swiftly confirm highly qualified individuals to the federal judiciary, including seven more judicial nominees who were confirmed this week. There has been no slowdown,” Feinstein said. “This includes the confirmation of Judge Wesley Hsu to the Central District of California. He will make an outstanding jurist and I’m proud to see him join the federal bench.”

“While the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced eight strong nominees during my absence, I’m disappointed that Republicans on the committee are blocking a few from moving forward,” she continued. “I’m confident that when I return to the Senate, we will be able to move the remaining qualified nominees out of committee quickly and to the Senate floor for a vote.”

New statement from Feinstein doesn’t say when she will return to Washington but asserts “there has been no slowdown” in judicial confirmations while she’s been absent.

“I’m confident that when I return to the Senate, we will be able to move the remaining qualified nominees…” pic.twitter.com/9MsufAqtIk

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) May 4, 2023

Senate Republicans blocked a plan by Democrats last month to quickly replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sought unanimous consent for a resolution that would allow Ben Cardin, a Democrat who is the senior senator from Maryland, to take Feinstein’s place.

“She’s a dear friend and we hope for her speedy recovery and return back to the Senate. With all due respect, my colleague, Sen. Schumer, this is about a handful of judges that you can’t get the votes for,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, per CNN.

As Graham indicated, central to the debate are nominees to federal courts around the country. By mid-February, the Senate confirmed more than 100 judicial appointments, meaning that in two years, President Joe Biden was outpacing his immediate predecessors. Any effort to reshape the federal judiciary ran into a roadblock when Feinstein became a no-show on Capitol Hill.

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Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.