Ukraine parliament members brawl, two hospitalized

Dec 16, 2010, 21:16 GMT

Kiev - Members of Ukraine's parliament brawled on Thursday evening, leaving two legislators hospitalized and dozens more with cuts and bruises.

The donnybrook involving more than 50 participants pitted deputies loyal to the ruling Regions of Ukraine party against members belonging to the opposition Motherland party.

The Motherland party members during the afternoon had surrounded the speaker's lectern and unplugged voting equipment in the chamber to prevent passage of legislation supported by the majority Regions.

The fistfight broke out after Regions deputies moved to push their political enemies away from the lectern and voting equipment.

The Regions members, many elected in Ukraine's industrial Donbass region, used superior weight and numbers to prevail in the ensuing melee.

Shoes, fists, chairs and paneling ripped from the chamber were visibly in action in images transmitted by the Channel 5 television channel. Vulgar language employed by many of the combatants was aired via a nationwide live TV feed as well.

Two parliament members, Ihor Gnatkevich and Vasyl Kravchiuk, required hospitalization for injuries suffered in the fight. Both are Motherland members.

Medical workers carried Kravchiuk out of the hall on a stretcher.

Parliament security guards made no attempt to intervene in the fight lasting some five minutes.

Journalists in a gallery overlooking the action refused orders by security to evacuate the chamber.

Regions of Ukraine is headed by President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russia politician closely allied with big business.

Motherland is headed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a populist politician supporting a western-leaning socialist agenda.

Physical occupation of the speaker's lectern in order to freeze debate and voting is a conventional tactic in Ukraine's parliament. Members in the past usually have not resorted to violence, in order to unblock the legislature's work.