Drone Disrupts Ukraine’s Parliament Session

Drone Disrupts Ukraine’s Parliament Session

It was another slow and quiet summer session Thursday in Ukraine’s parliament – until someone set off a drone inside the chamber, causing a ruckus.

Footage of the small propeller-driven device lifting off from behind someone’s desk was published on the website of Ukraine’s 112 rolling news channel.

The network reported that as several deputies stood up to applaud the stunt, parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy rebuked the unidentified mischief-maker and called for a brief recess to restore order.

“This has never happened before,” the channel quoted Parubiy as saying. “Some deputies are behaving like rascals.”

Lawmakers are moving through a raft of draft laws designed to attack waste and corruption so that Ukraine can meet standards demanded by its Western allies and big lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But infighting has stalled many bills’ passage and lawmakers frequently end their days without passing measures of any particular significance.

The reason why the drone was released was unclear.