RUSSIAN FLAGS
Ukrainian flags fly over public buildings and official signs are in Ukrainian language.
But these are swamped by a sea of Russian tricolour flags flying from the Black Sea fleet headquarters, by white-and-blue St Andrew's flags flying from Russian warships and by the Soviet military pennants sold in local shops.
Blue tents scattered around the town collect signatures for a referendum to have the Russian fleet kept here permanently. Moscow's $93-million-a-year lease runs out in 2017.
"We won't give up our Sevastopol!" thousands of people chanted as they listened to Luzhkov address a rally to mark the 225th anniversary of the creation of the Black Sea fleet.
The opposition in Sevastopol - as well as large swathes of Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and south - to NATO membership is more than a domestic problem for Yushchenko.
Polls show only a third of Ukraine's population favours joining the alliance, and that split makes some NATO member states in Europe sceptical about bringing in Ukraine.
The Crimean peninsula was a part of the Russian republic of the Soviet Union until 1954, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev signed it over to the Ukrainian republic as a "token of brotherly love".
That mattered little when both republics were part of the Soviet Union, but when Ukraine gained independence in 1991 it became a ticking timebomb.
Through the 1990s, as the new Ukrainian state established its credentials, Crimea was gripped by periodic outbursts of pro-Russian sentiment but has since been generally calm.
War veteran Vladimir, who refused to give his family name, said he remembered the contribution the United States made during World War Two, supplying tinned meat and vehicles to the Soviet war effort.
"Yes, they were good allies during that war," he said. "But today they have turned their bayonets against us."
