Opposition lawmakers hurled eggs and smoke bombs inside Ukraine's parliament today as the chamber approved an agreement allowing the Russian Navy to extend its stay in a Ukrainian port until 2042, Reuters reported. Crowds of government supporters and opponents scuffled outside the parliament building as deputies from newly elected President Viktor Yanukovich's coalition approved a 25-year extension to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea. "Today will go down as a black page in the history of Ukraine and the Ukrainian parliament," former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, now in opposition, told reporters inside parliament. The chamber filled with smoke as the smoke bombs were released and Speaker Volodymyr Litvyn took shelter under umbrellas provided by bodyguards as eggs rained down on him. Protesting deputies unfurled Ukrainian flags across the benches. The protests galvanised various opposition parties against Yanukovich for the first time since he was elected in February and they may yet prove a defining moment in the forming of an united opposition front. They also highlighted the deep division in the ex-Soviet republic of 46 million. Yanukovich enjoys support mainly from Russian-speakers in the east and south, including Crimea, who lean more towards Moscow. Ukrainian nationalists from the west and centre, led by Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko, regard the base as a betrayal of national interests. They wanted to remove it when the existing lease runs out in 2017. Deputies brawled and the chamber resounded to cries of "impeachment!", "coup!", "betrayal!" as passions ran high. But, with the air still hazy from the smoke bombs, parliament ratified the lease extension by 236 votes -- 10 more than the minimum required for it to pass -- and then promptly adopted the 2010 state budget which is key for securing $12 billion in credit from the International Monetary Fund. Parliament bypassed normal procedure and rushed through adoption of the budget without discussion because of the mayhem. -- SPA
