There was uproar in Greece's parliament following the inclusion of a video message from a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist Azov battalion member. It came during an address to MP's by Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelenskyy.

While Zelenskyy was given a standing ovation at the close of his speech, this was soon followed by widespread outrage among opposition parties over the inclusion of a man identifying himself as an ethnic Greek member of the Azov Battalion, which is accused of having far-right links. 

Greece's head of state Katerina Sakellaropouloul attended the event, which had been boycotted by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

During his appeal Zelenskyy spoke about the destruction of the port of Mariupol - home to thousands of ethnic Greeks - and urged Athens to offer its support to Ukraine.

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Shortly after the speech, the head of the leftist Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras called the incident a provocation. "Solidarity with the Ukrainian people is a given. But the Nazis cannot have a say in parliament," he tweeted.

A Greek government spokesman responded that the inclusion of a message from a member of the Azov Battalion was "mistaken and inappropriate." 

Ukraine's embassy in Athens said the Azov regiment, set up as a far-right group in 2014, has been reformed and integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine.

"For many years Russia tried to 'plant' into Greek minds the myth that 'Azov' regiment is a paramilitary independent unit operating in Mariupol," it said. "The video…has nothing to do with those Nazi deeds Russians commit on our land and against our people."

Russia says it is carrying out a "special operation" to disarm and "denazify" its neighbors.