Fists fly in Ukraine parliament punch up

Lawmakers in Ukraine scuffled with each other, throwing punches and eggs, as parliament met Tuesday to ratify a treaty with Russia that extends the latter's navy presence in the Ukraine's Crimean peninsula until 2042.
The ruling Regions party eventually ratified the treaty but not before howls of protest from the opposition.
Someone set off a smoke bomb inside the building, while Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn sought refuge behind an umbrella as he was pelted with eggs.
During a rally attended by thousands on Saturday, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko -- the former prime minister who lost to Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential election run-off in February -- said the ratification must be prevented at all costs.
She claimed that Yanukovych is "selling out" Ukraine, has "openly embarked on the path of destruction of (Ukraine's) national interests, and has actually begun the process of eliminating the state's sovereignty."
The deal was signed last week by Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Tymoshenko said it violated part of the Ukrainian Constitution, which forbids the country from hosting foreign military bases after 2017.
The deal extends Russia's lease of a major naval base in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol for an additional 25 years, in exchange for a 30 percent cut in the price of natural gas that Russia sells to Ukraine.
The agreement may bring an end to years of disputes over natural gas prices, which culminated in Russia turning off the pipeline to Ukraine.
The dispute affected not only Ukrainians, but many Europeans who depend on Russian gas pumped through Ukraine.
The two countries had been at odds ever since the "Orange Revolution" swept Yanukovych's fiercely anti-Russian predecessor Viktor Yushchenko to power in 2005.
Throughout his time in office, Yushchenko repeatedly threatened to expel Russia's Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol. The Russian military lease there was scheduled to expire in 2017.
Yanukovych said the new deal added a "concrete and pragmatic dimension" to centuries of relations between Ukrainians and Russians.

Opposition groups in Ukraine, however, were quick to denounce the agreement. Yuschenko's "Our Ukraine" party said the treaty would lead to the "Russification" of Ukraine.

Ukraine Opposition Leader Appears to Win Election

Ukraine's pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych will win a narrow victory in the country's presidential election, electoral officials say.

With more than 98% of votes counted, Mr Yanukovych had a 2.7% lead over his rival, PM Yulia Tymoshenko, media said.

Mr Yanukovych called on Mrs Tymoshenko to quit, but she refused and is expected to challenge the result.

International observers described the vote as an "impressive display of democratic elections".

"For everyone in Ukraine, this election was a victory," the observers, led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said in a statement, Reuters news agency reported.

"It is now time for the country's political leaders to listen to the people's verdict and make sure that the transition of power is peaceful and constructive."

Favorable judgments by the electoral commission and international observers will make it much more difficult for Mrs Tymoshenko to challenge the outcome.

She has postponed a news conference on the result until Tuesday.

'Full circle'

The results suggest a remarkable comeback after Mr Yanukovych was swept aside by the 2004 "Orange Revolution".

Under the 59-year-old former mechanic, Ukraine's foreign policy is expected to become more pro-Russian.

Our correspondent says a Yanukovych win would be an extraordinary indictment of the pro-Western Orange Revolution leaders' failure to deliver on their promises, which has left people deeply disillusioned.

Politics in Ukraine has now gone full circle, our correspondent adds.

Mr Yanukovych was a presidential candidate in the last election in 2004, which was found to have been rigged in his favor.

Mrs Tymoshenko's impassioned leadership of the subsequent street protests that swept him from power - and thrust her to office, along with Viktor Yushchenko - made her an international celebrity.

But the prime minister - once a fierce critic of Russian involvement in Ukraine - has close ties with her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who said at a recent meeting she was someone he could "do business with".

Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko lost in the first round of the election last month.

With more than 98% of votes counted, Mr Yanukovych was ahead with some 48.55% of the vote, with Mrs Tymoshenko at around 45.85%, according to media reports.

It is set to be a narrower margin of victory than Mr Yanukovych had been hoping for, but he has already congratulated his supporters and said he will deliver the change the country is yearning for.

The opposition leader reportedly said it was time for his rival to quit.

"I think that Yulia Tymoshenko should prepare to resign. She understands that well," Interfax-Ukraine quoted him as saying in a television interview.

"In any case, I believe such a suggestion will be put to her."

But Mrs Tymoshenko, 49, showed no sign of standing down.

In a news conference earlier, she said her team was conducting a "parallel count" and urged them to "fight for every result, every document, every vote".

Mud-slinging

Mr Yanukovych won last month's first round of voting, finishing 10 percentage points ahead of Mrs Tymoshenko.

She has threatened to take her supporters to the streets if defeated, saying the protests could be larger than those of the Orange Revolution.

Sunday's vote came after a bitter mud-slinging campaign in which real policy issues and debate appeared to have been forgotten, says our correspondent.

On Saturday, Mrs Tymoshenko's political bloc accused Mr Yanukovych's Party of Regions of blocking her supporters from overseeing the vote in the eastern Donetsk region.

Mr Yanukovych's camp hit back with allegations that some supporters of the prime minister had been tampering with ballots in an attempt to get votes from eastern Ukraine disqualified.

President Yushchenko - who came fifth in last month's first round - led a series of bitter personal attacks on former ally Mrs Tymoshenko during the campaign.

His working relationship with the prime minister over the last five years was poisoned by bickering as Ukraine became engulfed by an economic crisis, with its GDP plummeted 15% last year.