UKRAINE: Black Sea Fleet sailors stationed in Ukraine's Sevastopol cast their ballots for parliamentary elections

Record ID: 327636

  • Title: UKRAINE: Black Sea Fleet sailors stationed in Ukraine's Sevastopol cast their ballots for parliamentary elections
  • Date: 5th December 2011
  • Summary: SEVASTOPOL, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 3, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RUSSIAN BLACK SEA FLEET SHIPS BASED IN UKRAINIAN CITY OF SEVASTOPOL SEVASTOPOL, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 4, 2011) (REUTERS) RUSSIAN BLACK SEA FLEET UNIT MARCHING TO THE POLLING STATION RUSSIAN BLACK SEA MILITARIES ENTERING POLLING STATION SIGN READING IN RUSSIAN 'RUSSIAN STATE DUMA ELECTIONS, POLLING STATION NUMBER 5272' VARIOUS OF NAVAL OFFICER REGISTERING TO VOTE NAVAL OFFICER ENTERING VOTING BOOTH NAVAL OFFICER PUTTING BALLOT INTO BALLOT BOX VARIOUS OFFICERS REGISTERING TO VOTE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN BLACK SEA SAILOR MAKSIM DZHARULKO, SAYING "I voted for our country not to give up the democratic way of development, for better social security for all strata of society so that every man in Russia could feel free." NAVAL OFFICER TOSSING THE BALLOT BALLOT BOX NAVAL OFFICERS GATHERED IN CORRIDOR OF POLLING STATION
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine, Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD6EGA86U9XP4OMCQVH9KFBGG
  • Story Text: Sailors from Russia's Black Sea Fleet stationed in Sevastopol, Ukraine cast their votes on Sunday (December 4) in parliamentary polls seen as a test of Vladimir Putin's personal popularity ahead of a planned return to the presidency early next year.
    Russia's ruling United Russia party, headed by Prime Minister Putin could see its vast parliamentary majority cut back in an election that will indicate the scope of fatigue with Putin's 12-year rule just three months before he asks voters to endorse his return to the Kremlin as president.
    If United Russia, which has dominated the State Duma lower house since 2003, does not retain its two-thirds majority, the biggest gainers could be the Communist Party, which is likely to remain the second biggest force.
    Polls show Putin's party is likely to win a majority but less than the 315 seats it currently has in the 450-seat lower house of parliament, known as the Duma. If it gets less than two-thirds of seats, Putin's party would be stripped of its so called constitutional majority which allows it to change the constitution and even approve the impeachment of the president.
    "I voted for our country not to give up the democratic way of development, for better social security for all strata of society so that every man in Russia could feel free," Black Sea Fleet sailor, Maksim Dzharulko, said.
    Despite its location, Sevastopol - home to thousands of Russian naval personnel and their families - is ethnically and culturally very much a Russian town. Ethnic Russians still make up the majority of its nearly 2 million inhabitants.
    After the Soviet break-up, Moscow and Kiev wrangled first over the ownership of this former Soviet fleet - of which the Kremlin finally took the lion's share. Then they argued over the terms by which Russia could continue to use the base. The two countries agreed on a 20-year renewable lease in 1997.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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