MPs block parliament rostrum

Ukrainian MPs from the Samopomich and Batkivshchyna factions have blocked the presidium of the Verkhovna Rada.

Speaker Andriy Parubiy announced a break in the parliament meeting and invited the heads of parliamentary factions to his cabinet.

MPs started pushing each other. Deputies from the Samopomich faction began to obstruct First Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Gerashchenko from holding the meeting, while other deputies, in particular, Tetiana Chornovil (People's Front) tried to prevent this.

At the same time, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov stated that MPs were trying to block the vote on a bill that recognizes Russia as an aggressor country, but parliamentarians did not allow him to continue his speech.

op