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This is the shocking moment a man punched a Russian presenter live on television and shouted "we will seize Ukraine".

The shocking footage shows a man staggering into the frame before being told to be quiet by the NTV presenter, who is trying to speak to camera.

The man, initially reported on NTV's website to be a drunk paratrooper, then shouts expletives and says "we will seize Ukraine" before punching the TV host in the face.

Pro-Russian separatist rebels have been engaged in conflict in east Ukrainian territories since war broke out in early 2014.

Today is VDV Day in Russia, a celebration of airborne fighters that traditionally sees paratroopers gather in public places, drinking alcohol and swimming in fountains.

The TV host had been trying to talk about the celebrations of Russia's "elite" airborne troops on the special occasion.

After the punch, a female presenter back in the studio says: "Ah, we are having some problems. We will return to our correspondent, Nikita Razvozhaev. We will hope that everything is ok with him."

After NTV's website described the man as a "drunk paratrooper", police told news agency Interfax the man had no connection to the airborne forces.

He wore a t-shirt bearing the name of Oplot, a pro-Russian martial arts club that opposed the pro-European Maidan protests in Ukraine in 2014.

After the outbreak of war that followed the protests, Oplot was said to have evolved into an armed force in the Ukraine conflict on the Russian side.

Alexander Zakharchenko, reported by Reuters as a leader of Oplot, is now head of the pro-Russian rebel group occupying the region of Donetsk, in east Ukraine.