The Ukrainian parliament descended into chaos today, as a debate over the lease on a Russian Naval Base turned into a violent mêlée.

As gas from a smoke bomb seeped into the room, members brawled, throwing punches and, judging from the picture, hit each other with water bottles.  They also pelted the speaker with eggs, forcing aides to shield him with black umbrellas.

Why were the aides carrying identical umbrellas with them while it was 53 and sunny? They might have seen this fight coming, judging from the tape of another Ukrainian parliamentary proceeding from 2008. We’ll post the video of today’s fight when it’s available, meanwhile, find it here or take a look at this one from ’08:

Somewhat amazingly, despite the food fight, the voting continued and the measure passed. The BBC reports that 236 out of 450 members voted to extend Russia’s lease on the base in Sevastopol in exchange for cheap Russian gas. The base houses about 40 ships, more than 16,000 servicemen, and will remain in Ukraine until 2042 under the new regulation.

The move was further evidence of the strengthening of Russian-Ukrainian relations under Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. His predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, was at times a fierce opponent of the Kremlin–a political stance that, apparently, still strongly resonates with about 214 members of the Ukrainian parliament.