The head of the parliamentary group of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) died after a long and serious illness, said the head of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin in Moscow on Wednesday. Zhirinovsky was 75 years old. The politician, known as a right-wing agitator, had been in the hospital for weeks. He was considered one of the most dazzling politicians in Russia. Also because of his undiplomatic speeches, which he often screamed with a red face.
Putin: “Always take a patriotic stance”
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the family. “Vladimir Zhirinovsky was an experienced politician, an energetic, open person, a bright speaker and polemicist,” Putin wrote in a telegram released by the Kremlin. As the founder of the LDPR, he “always represented a patriotic stance and the interests of Russia in front of any audience in the sharpest discussions.”
Zhirinovsky has been in Russian politics since 1991 and has contested the presidential election six times, most recently in 2018 when he finished third with 5.65 percent. In the early 1990s, his party was the strongest force in Russia’s State Duma, the parliament that was then seen as the counterweight to the Russian president. In the period that followed, not only the Duma lost weight, but also the LDPR.
In Russia, there was already a stir on March 25 because the politician’s death had been accidentally reported. Parliament leader Volodin had denied the report at the time. Now Volodin has confirmed the death in his Telegram channel. The prominent foreign politician Leonid Slutsky took over leadership of the LDPR faction. Zhirinovsky is to be buried this Friday at Moscow’s Troyekurovo Cemetery.
Source: Nachrichten
