Ukraine extends Russian navy stay

OPPOSITION lawmakers hurled eggs and smoke bombs inside Ukraine’s parliament yesterday as the chamber approved an agreement allowing the Russian navy to extend its stay in a Ukrainian port until 2042.

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.