Article content

DONETSK, Ukraine — A fistfight broke out in Ukraine’s parliament Tuesday as tempers rose between opposing factions and nationalist lawmakers scuffled with communists, after the Communist Party leader accused the government of cracking down on dissent.

Petro Symonenko was speaking when he was, The Guardian reported, seized from the podium by members of the nationalist, far-right Svoboda party.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Ukraine lawmakers fight among themselves in violent parliament brawl as Russia warns of civil war Back to video

More fromThe Guardian:

Now, he said, armed groups were attacking people who wanted to defend their rights by peaceful means. “You are today doing everything to intimidate people. You arrest people, start fighting people who have a different point of view,” he said, before being pulled away from the rostrum by the Svoboda deputies.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Symonenko was reportedly not seriously injured in the fight, but had “scratches on his face” when he returned to his seat.

Ukrainian security forces on Tuesday drove pro-Russian protesters out of the regional government headquarters in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, that they had seized and arrested about 70 of them, the country’s leader said.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told lawmakers in parliament that security forces retook control even as the separatists used hand grenades and unspecified weapons against them. Some police were injured in the melee.