And the international analysis types at Stratfor have been strongly emphasizing to their subscribers - like me - that this is a very, very, important geopolitical event, much more so than the 2000 and 2004 U.S. elections put together. If Yuschenko succeeds in pulling Ukraine away from Russia's orbit, Russia will take a huge hit to their power and prestige, and will basically never be a superpower again. Russia has some levers...all you Europeans should expect some interesting things to happen to your oil and natural gas supplies in the future...
As I heard before, this Ukrainian election is basically a test to see how much Russia can influence the events of its once-member states in the Soviet Union... if the pro-Western candidate can win, it'll be a huge blow to them because it'll prove that they don't have much of a grip on those countries anymore.
The Times said a while they could lose the Sevastapol naval base.
Assuming the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine don't secede, that is...
