Buenos Aires Herald April 27, 2010
Opposition lawmakers hurled eggs and smoke bombs inside Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday as the chamber approved an agreement allowing the Russian Navy to extend its stay in a Ukrainian port until 2042.
Crowds of 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,” opposition leader and former premier Yulia Tymoshenko told journalists 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 huge Ukrainian flags across the benches.