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Smoke bomb thrown in Ukrainian parliament during naval base debate
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April 27, 2010
Original URL: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Smoke_bomb_thrown_in_Ukrainian_parliament_during_naval_base_debate



Chaos broke out in the Ukrainian parliament as several smoke bombs were
thrown during a debate about the extended lease on a Russian naval base
in Ukraine. Members of parliament were seen fighting on the chamber
floor while opposition MPs threw eggs at the speaker of the house,
Volodymyr Lytvyn.

It is not clear who threw the smoke bombs, although opposition MPs were
thought to be responsible, but the debate continued despite the
lingering smoke and chaos. The speaker had to be protected by two aides
holding umbrellas and politicians held handkerchiefs to their mouths. 

Along with the brawling MPs, thousands of people waited outside the
parliament building protesting the extended lease. 

The clashes began as members of parliament were debating extending the
lease on the Sevastopol naval base. The Russians currently have a lease
on the base until 2017. The Russians have offered Ukraine cheaper
supplies of Russian natural gas in exchange for a further 25 years on
the lease. 

After the chaos had calmed down, MPs voted on the agreement and the deal
extending the lease was backed 236 to 214. The deal was then put forward
in the Russian lower house of parliament, where all 410 Russian MPs
voted in favour of the deal.       

==Sources==
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8645847.stm
* http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/ukraine-parliament-fight-smoke-bomb-thrown-20100427-tpon.html