NYPD detectives say a violent assault out of Gravesend on Thursday night is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

They say a man was punched in the face on the dead-end block of East 1st Street and Avenue U just past midnight Thursday night.

The victim who was attacked was Russian and the suspect drove off in a car that had a Ukrainian flag on it.

Police say the 34-year-old victim was walking when a car pulled up and the suspect asked him if he was Russian. The suspect then got out of the car, punched the victim in the face and made discriminatory comments.

The suspect took off in a black car which area surveillance cameras captured.

Police say the suspect is 5 foot 7 inches tall, medium build with short black hair. They add that the two may have had an argument earlier prior to the attack.

Police ask anyone who has any information about the incident to give Crime Stoppers a call.