Putin's armed bodyguards fight with security at summit in South Africa after being told to put 'nuclear suitcase' through X-ray

Russian president was attending BRICS summit in Durban

Bodyguards ordered to scan suitcase containing nuclear launch codes

Guards started 'pushing and shoving' after being told to leave summit



Fight: Vladimir Putin's bodyguards were involved in a punch-up at the BRICS summit in South Africa

Armed guards from Vladimir Putin's entourage were involved in an ugly fight in South Africa after they were ordered to put top secret suitcases - believed to contain the codes for Russia's nuclear arsenal - through a security scanner.



The nightmare scenes came as the Kremlin leader arrived in Durban on an official trip to attend the 'BRICS' summit.



Angry 'pushing and shoving' broke out after some members of Putin's security detail were prevented from following the Russian president into the conference hall staging the summit, which was hosted by South Africa's president Jacob Zuma and also involved Brazil, Russia, India and China.



'Putin managed to go through their lines, but his closest security detail were ordered to put their small suitcases on the belt to X-ray check them,' Moskovsky Komsomolets revealed.



These were the 'very particular suitcases, secret ones, which are always carried right behind the president's back and the guards never let go even for a second,' the newspaper added.



'They tried to literally push out of the building a part of President's security service, part of his protocol service and part of Kremlin's information service.'

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Conflict: A South African security guard pushes Putin's bodyguards out of the convention hall

Stand-off: The two sides argued about the security procedures for the concert

VIDEO : On camera. Putin's armed bodyguards fight with security at summit

At one point, heavy-handed South African security also tried to block Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov - one of the world's most senior diplomats - from entering, it was claimed.



Amid angry misunderstandings, it became physical with 'Putin's security pushing the Africans out of the away, and the Africans pushing Putin's back', said Russian journalist Victoria Prikhodko.

'I must say that the African security man was half the size of the Russian - but then he had a machine-gun in his hands which in the end helped him to push both our protocol and our security.'



When they tried to block Lavrov 'our security re-started the fight', she said. 'Luckily they didn't get into a full-size scuffle, ending up with pushing and poking each other.'

Arrival: Mr Putin after touching down at Durban's airport for the summit yesterday

Dinner: The Russian leader with China's Xi Jinping, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff

A South African colonel was called and the issue was resolved with the Russians - and their sensitive suitcases - allowed in. Some were forced to use the back door.



Kremlin officials blamed the embarrassing bust-up on the South Africans, with Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying: 'They manage football better. A lot of confusion.'



He added: 'The incident happened because of the fault of the inviting side.'