UKRAINIAN POLITICIANS hurled punches, smoke bombs and eggs around parliament yesterday, as a majority voted to allow Russia’s navy to use a base on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast until 2042.
Amid the chaos, allies of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovich celebrated ratification of the deal, as outside parliament thousands of supporters of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko protested against a pact that has highlighted stark divisions in Ukrainian society.
Mr Yanukovich agreed the deal with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev last week in exchange for a 30 per cent discount on Russian gas imports, a saving that the Kiev government claims will help keep Ukraine’s ailing economy afloat.
Ms Tymoshenko and ex-president Viktor Yushchenko wanted the Russian navy to leave the base at Sevastopol when its current lease expires in 2017, and they say the new deal undermines Ukraine’s sovereignty and strengthens Kremlin influence over its neighbour.
Support for Mr Yanukovich is concentrated in mostly Russian-speaking southern and eastern Ukraine, including the Crimea peninsula where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based and where most locals favour close ties with Russia over links with the EU and Nato.
In more EU-friendly western Ukraine, Mr Yanukovich is widely seen as a Kremlin puppet with more loyalty to Moscow than to the country that he runs. Local parliaments across western Ukraine have denounced the deal.
