View source for Vladimir Zhirinovsky

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Eastern Slavic name|Volfovich|Zhirinovsky}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name   = Vladimir Zhirinovsky
|honorific-suffix = [[State Duma|MP]]
|office             = [[List of Deputy Chairmen of the State Duma|Vice Chairman]] of the [[State Duma]]
|order              = 
|image              = [[File:LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky MoscowTass 08-2016.jpg|250px]]
|alt                = 
|caption            = 
|predecessor        = 
|president          = [[Vladimir Putin]]<br>[[Dmitry Medvedev]]<br>Vladimir Putin
|primeminister      = Vladimir Putin<br>[[Mikhail Kasyanov]]<br>[[Viktor Khristenko]] (acting)<br>[[Mikhail Fradkov]]<br>[[Viktor Zubkov]]<br>Vladimir Putin<br>Viktor Zubkov (acting)<br>Dmitry Medvedev
|successor          = 
|footnotes          = 
<!--Military service-->
|signature          = Signature of Vladimir Zhirinovsky.png
|signature_alt      = 
|party              = [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]]
|office1       = [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia|Leader of the LDPR Party]]
|predecessor1   = party created
|successor1    = 
|birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1946|4|25|df=y}}
|birth_place        = [[Almaty]], [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
|death_date         = 
|death_place        = 
|nationality        = [[Russia]]n
|otherparty         =  <!--For additional political affiliations-->
|spouse             = Galina Lebedeva
|partner            =  <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
|relations          = 
|children           = [[Igor Lebedev (politician)|Igor Lebedev]]
|residence          = 
|alma_mater         = [[Moscow State University]]
|occupation         = politician, founder and the leader of the [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]] (LDPR), Vice-Chairman of the [[State Duma]]
|profession         = Lawyer
|cabinet            = 
|committees         = 
|portfolio          = 
|religion           = [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]]
|website            = 
|nickname           = 
|allegiance         = Soviet Union, Russian Federation
|branch             = 
|serviceyears       = 
|rank               = Colonel 
|unit               = 
|commands           = 
|battles            = 
|title              =   
|awards             =  {{plainlist |
* [[File:Orden for Service II.png|35px]] [[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]] (2nd class)
* [[File:Orden for Service III.png|35px]] [[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]] (3rd class)
* [[File:Orden for Service IV.png|25px]] [[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]] (4th class) 
* [[File:Order of Alexander Nevsky 2010 ribbon.svg|25px]] [[Order of Alexander Nevsky]]  
* [[File:Orden of Honour.png|25px]] [[Order of Honour (Russia)|Order of Honour]]
}}
|birthname          = Vladimir Volfovich Eidelstein
|imagesize          = 300px
|term_start         = 18 January 2000
|term_end           = 21 December 2011
|term_start1    = 14 December 1989
|term_end1    = 
|restingplace       = 
|restingplacecoordinates = 
}}
{{ Listen|filename= Vladimir Zhirinovskij voice.oga |title= Vladimir Zhirinovsky's voice |type= speech |description= recorded May 2013}}
'''Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Влади́мир Во́льфович Жирино́вский}}; né '''Eidelstein''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Эйдельште́йн}}) on 25 April 1946) is a Russian politician and leader of the [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]]. He is fiercely nationalist and has been described as "a [[showman]] of Russian politics, blending populist and nationalist rhetoric, [[Anti-Western sentiment|anti-Western invective]] and a brash, confrontational style".<ref name=clown-showman>{{cite news|title=Profiles of Russia's 2012 presidential election candidates|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16750990|agency=[[BBC News]]|date=30 January 2012}}</ref> His views have been described as fascist.<ref name=economist>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5037/is_199312/ai_n18302450 Zhirinovsky's A-Z. (Russian parliamentary elections favored Vladimir Zhirinovsky's fascist Liberal Democratic Party)], ''[[The Economist]]'', December 1993.</ref><ref name=newrussia>[http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/96-98/f96-98.htm The New Russia of Vladimir Zhirinovsky: Fascist Tendencies in the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia] ([[NATO]])</ref><ref name=abroadathome>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE6DC1730F934A25751C1A965958260 Abroad at Home; When You Appease Fascism], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 17 December 1993</ref>

Zhirinovsky is a long-time member of the [[State Duma]] and held the post of Deputy Chairman of the Duma from 2000 to 2011. According to Reuters, "Although nominally part of the Russian opposition, he is widely seen as a servant of Kremlin policy, used to float radical opinions to test public reaction."<ref>{{cite news|author1=Alissa de Carbonnel|author2=Alessandra Prentice|title=Armed men seize two airports in Ukraine's Crimea, Yanukovich reappears|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/28/uk-ukraine-idUKBREA1H0EM20140228|date=28 February 2014|publisher=Reuters}}</ref>

==Early life and politics==
Zhirinovsky was born in [[Almaty]], the capital of the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]], modern-day [[Kazakhstan]]. His father, Volf Isaakovich Eidelshtein (or Wolf Andreyevich Eidelshtein), was a [[History of the Jews in Poland|Jew from Poland]], and his mother, Alexandra Pavlovna (née Makarova), was of Russian background.<ref name="antisemitism">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1446759.stm Zhirinovsky admits Jewish roots], [[BBC News]], 19 July 2001</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/513147471.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+18%2C+1993&author=&pub=The+Spectator&desc=Will+the+real+Zhirinovsky+stand+up%3F&pqatl=google | title=Will the real Zhirinovsky stand up? | date=18 December 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PG&p_theme=pg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADEF690BCD314A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=RUSSIAN EXTREMIST'S ROOTS TRACED ZHIRINOVSKY RECALLS MANY PETTY SLIGHTS HE EXPERIENCED IN TEENS | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date=6 February 1994}}</ref><ref>[http://yqyq.net/55753-Vladimir_ZHirinovskiiy_enfant_terrible_russkoiy_politiki.html Vladimir Zhirinovsky - enfant terrible of Countryn politics » News from different disciplines]. Yqyq.net (25 April 1946).</ref> His paternal grandfather was a wealthy industrialist from [[Kostopil]],<ref name="newsru.co.il">[http://www.newsru.co.il/israel/25jun2006/zhirinovsky_stury.html#3 Владимир Жириновский: я – не "сын юриста". Рассказ об отце] время публикации: 25 июня 2006 г, Newsru.co.il</ref> who owned the largest timber factory in (what is now) Ukraine and was head of the Jewish community.<ref name=newsru.com.il2>[http://www.newsru.co.il/israel/25feb2014/duma_il_112.html Жириновский в Израиле говорил об антисемитизме на Украине] 25 февраля 2014 г., 21:14, NewsRU.co.il</ref> His grandfather's factory today has an income of $32 million a year, and over the years Zhirinovsky has demanded successive Ukrainian governments return it to him.<ref>[http://www.kp.ru/daily/26444/3315543 Zhirinovsky beats with Kiev factory of his grandfather] OCTOBER 13TH.
2015, Elena Chinkova</ref>

Four of Zhirinovsky's relatives had been killed during the Holocaust. Zhirinovsky's parents split while he was still an infant. Abandoning the family, Zhirinovsky's father, Wolf Eidelshtein, emigrated to Israel in 1949 (together with his new wife Bella and his brother), where he worked as an agronomist in [[Tel Aviv]]. Zhirinovsky's father was a member of the right-wing nationalist [[Herut]] party in Israel, and died in 1983 when he was run over by a bus near [[Dizengoff Street]] in Tel Aviv.<ref name="newsru.co.il"/> Zhirinovsky did not find out the details of his father's life in Israel until many years later, or even that he had died.<ref name="newsru.co.il"/><ref name=newsru.com.il2/> Zhirinovsky himself is an Orthodox Christian.<ref>[http://www.forerunner.com/predvestnik/X0065_Zhirinovsky.html Vladimir Zhirinovsky on Religion in Russia — Predvestnik]. Forerunner.com (1 May 1996).</ref>

In July 1964, Zhirinovsky moved from Almaty to Moscow, where he began his studies in the Department of Turkish Studies, Institute of Asian and African Studies at [[Moscow State University]] (MSU), from which he graduated in 1969. Zhirinovsky then went into [[military service]] in [[Tbilisi]] during the early 1970s. He would later get a law degree and work at various posts in state committees and unions. He was awarded a [[Doktor nauk|Dr.Sci.]] in philosophy by MSU in 1998. Although he participated in some reformist groups, Zhirinovsky was largely inconsequential in Soviet political developments during the 1980s. While he contemplated a role in politics, a nomination attempt for a seat as a People's Deputy in 1989 was quickly abandoned.<ref>[http://www.panorama.ru/works/oe/zhirinoe.html Zhirinovsky Vladimir Volfovich] Panorama.ru</ref>

==Founding of the Liberal-Democratic Party==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Zhirinovsky.jpg|thumb|Zhirinovsky engaged in a television interview in September 2009]] -->
{{see also|Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Vladimir Putin with Vladimir Zhirinovsky-1.jpg|thumb|left|Zhirinovsky with Vladimir Putin in 2000]]
In 1990 Zhirinovsky, along with Vladimir Bogachev, took initiatives which led to the founding of the [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia|Liberal Democratic Party]], the second registered party in the [[Soviet Union]] and therefore the first officially sanctioned [[opposition (parliamentary)|opposition party]]. According to the former [[CPSU Politburo]] member [[Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev]], this party started as a joint project of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU) leadership and the [[KGB]].<ref name="jewish">[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE4D81239F935A25751C1A965958260 In Moscow, Zhirinovsky Is Remembered as Jewish Advocate], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 16 December 1993</ref><ref name="nuclear"/> Yakovlev wrote in his memoirs that KGB director [[Vladimir Kryuchkov]] presented the project of the puppet LDPR party at a meeting with [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] and informed him about the selection of the LDPR leader. According to Yakovlev, the name of the party was chosen by KGB General [[Philipp Bobkov]]. However, Bobkov said that he was against the creation of "[[Sergei Vasilyevich Zubatov|Zubatov's]] pseudo-party under KGB control that would direct the interests and sentiments of certain social groups".<ref>[[Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev]] ''Time of Darkness'', Moscow, 2003, ISBN 5-85646-097-9, page 574 ({{lang-ru|link=no|Яковлев А. Сумерки. Москва: Материк 2003 г.}}). The book provides an official copy of a document providing the initial LDPR funding (3 million rubles) from the CPSU money.</ref>
[[File:Pv-zhirinovsky-v-v-2004-money.jpg|thumb|Zhirinovsky in 2004 freely handing out money to the public.]]
Zhirinovsky's first political breakthrough came in June 1991 when he came third in Russia's first [[Russian presidential election, 1991|presidential election]], gathering more than six million votes or 7.81%. Afterwards, the LDPR garnered a reputation as an ineffective vehicle for opposition against the government, and one that lacked either credibility or authenticity,{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} particularly given Zhirinovsky's vocal support for the [[Soviet coup attempt of 1991]]. This view was further encouraged by rumors, denied by Zhirinovsky,<ref name="brit">[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/656945/Vladimir-Zhirinovsky Vladimir Zhirinovsky (Russian politician) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia]. Britannica.com (26 April 1946) – note: nothing there, or any other primary source, about "vice-chairman of the Duma"</ref> that he was an agent of the KGB and that the LDPR was a farcical creation meant to either discredit or distract earnest opposition to the government. Such impressions would last even as the Soviet Union was dissolved and the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation|Russian Communist Party]] itself took an opposition role. In 1992 Zhirinovsky made contact with [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]], leader at that time of France's  [[Front National (France)|Front National]] (FN). [[Eduard Limonov]] of the [[National-Bolshevik Party]] introduced the men to each other and the FN later “provided logistical support [to the LDPR], including computers and fax machines”. Zhirinovsky suggested establishing the International Centre of Right-wing Parties in Moscow and invited Le Pen to Moscow. 
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anton-shekhovtsov.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/vladimir-zhirinovskys-contacts-with.html|title=Anton Shekhovtsov's blog|author=Anton Shekhovtsov|publisher=|accessdate=8 May 2016}}</ref>

The Liberal-Democratic Party remained an important force in [[Politics of Russia|Russian politics]]. At the height of its fortunes, the LDPR gathered 23% of the vote in the 1993 Duma elections and achieved a broad representation throughout the country – the LDPR being the top vote-getter in 64 out of 87 regions. This fact encouraged Zhirinovsky to once again vie for the presidential office, this time against incumbent [[Boris Yeltsin]]. The fact that Yeltsin's candidacy seemed seriously challenged by Russian nationalist groups and a rejuvenated Communist Party alarmed many outside observers, particularly in the Western world, who expressed concern that such developments posed a serious threat to the survival of Russian democracy, already in a very fragile state. Zhirinovsky became a focal point of harsh criticism and seemed the living embodiment of [[authoritarianism]] and [[militarism]] in modern Russia. While some observers inclined to consider his controversial statements as stark efforts to drum up nationalist support, not viewable as anything more serious than electoral fodder meant for domestic consumption, there was great consternation at the fact that in February 1996, months before a [[Russian presidential election, 1996|presidential election]], Zhirinovsky placed second in opinion polls, behind Communist [[Gennady Zyuganov]] and ahead of Boris Yeltsin. In the end, however, Zhirinovsky placed fifth with a 5.7% share in the first round of voting. Since then, the party's fortunes have stabilized somewhat, with the [[Russian legislative election, 2003|2003 election]] seeing a LDPR vote share of 11.7%. In 2004, Zhirinovsky declined to even [[Russian presidential election, 2004|be nominated by the party]], leaving that role to [[Oleg Malyshkin]], who received 2% support from voters.
[[File:Vladimir_Putin_with_Vladimir_Zhirinovsky-2.jpg|thumb|Zhirinovsky and Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in 2000]]
For his own part, Zhirinovsky has done a great deal to foster a reputation as a loud and boisterous [[populism|populist]] who speaks on behalf of the Russian nation and people, even when the things he says are precisely what many people, at home or abroad, do not want to hear. Zhirinovsky infamously promised voters in 1991 that if he were elected, free [[vodka]] would be distributed to all. Similarly, he once remarked, during a political rally inside a Moscow department store, that if he were made president, [[underwear]] would be freely available.<ref name=Fedarko>{{cite news|first=Kevin|last=Fedarko|url= http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,979889,00.html|title= A Farce to Be Reckoned With|work= TIME|date= 27 December 1993}}</ref> Zhirinovsky has on several occasions become involved in altercations with other politicians and debate opponents. As a candidate, he also took part in the [[Russian presidential election, 2000|2000]] and [[Russian presidential election, 2008|2008 presidential elections]], promising a "[[police state]]",<ref name="nuclear">[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,538403,00.html Nuclear Threats and Busty Ladies in the Race for Second-Place in Russia], ''[[Der Spiegel]]'',  28 February 2008</ref> and to institute summary executions. A BBC documentary from 1995 showed Zhirinovsky telling the crowd at a campaign rally: "Help us, and you'll never have to vote again! I'm not saying, "Vote for us and maybe in 20 years' time somebody will do something". No, these will be the last elections! The last ones!".<ref name="BBC">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvrMUlOR76w Tripping with Zhirinovsky], ''[[BBC]]'', 1995</ref> While some commentators call Zhirinovsky a fascist, or a [[neo-fascism|neo-fascist]],<ref name=economist/><ref name=newrussia/><ref name=abroadathome/> some others dismiss him as a mere "[[clown]]"<ref name="joke"/><ref name="hello">[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979934-1,00.html Hello, I Must Be Going], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 10 January 1994</ref><ref name="clown" /> and as [[the Kremlin]]'s willing political tool to neutralize the [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]] voter potential – and, for a time being, also as a radical "[[bogeyman]]" for the West.<ref name="nuclear"/>

==Views==
[[File:Zhirinovsky Vladimir.jpg|thumb|left|Zhirinovsky speaking on a pre-election meeting in 1999]]

Zhirinovsky has expressed admiration for the [[United States presidential election, 1996|1996 United States presidential election]] contender [[Pat Buchanan]], referring positively to a comment in which Buchanan labeled the [[United States Congress]] "Israeli-occupied territory." Zhirinovsky said that both countries were "under occupation." and that "to survive, we could set aside places on U.S. and Russian territories to deport this small but troublesome tribe." Buchanan strongly rejected this endorsement, saying he would provide safe haven to persecuted minorities if Zhirinovsky were ever elected Russia's president, eliciting a harsh response by Zhirinovsky: "You soiled your pants as soon as you got my congratulations. Who are you afraid of: [[Zionism|Zionists]]?"<ref name="buchanan">[http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/3063/edition_id/54/format/html/displaystory.html Russia's Zhirinovsky now blasts Buchanan as 'crap'], ''[[Jewish News Weekly]]'', 1 March 1996</ref> Zhirinovsky repeatedly denied his father's Jewishness until he published ''Ivan Close Your Soul'' in July 2001, describing how his father, Volf Isaakovich Eidelshtein, changed his surname from Eidelshtein to Zhirinovsky. He [[rhetoric]]ally asked, "Why should I reject Russian blood, Russian culture, Russian land, and fall in love with the Jewish people only because of that single drop of blood that my father left in my mother's body?"<ref name="antisemitism"/> Another frequently cited quote from Zhirinovsky is "My mother was Russian and my father was a lawyer". Zhirinovsky later disowned the statement, after researching his father's life in Israel (where, after leaving Zhrinovsky's mother, he had immigrated in 1949 with a new wife, and worked as an agronomist in Tel Aviv). Discussing the statement, Zhirinovsky says: "Journalists mocked me: for saying I was the son of a lawyer. And I am really the son of an agronomist." Discussing his father, Zhirinovsky says with tears in his eyes: "All my life I was looking for him. I believed that he was alive. I believed that someday he would find me... But there is a silver lining. I tried to imitate him... And I was able to achieve a certain position in life, even without the support of my father."<ref name="newsru.co.il"/>

Zhirinovsky has Israeli relatives, including his uncle and cousin, who he met and befriended for the first time only after discovering more about his family's story in [[Israel]]. Zhirinovsky's Israeli family did not know that he was a politician in Russia, but responded warmly to his invitation to visit him in Moscow. Zhirinovsky has led official Russian delegations to Israel. Visiting Israel, he says that he is concerned particularly about the economic situation for the more than one million [[Russian Jews in Israel|Russians living in Israel]]. He also states that "Russia will never allow any kind of violence against Israel".<ref name="newsru.co.il"/>
[[File:Церемония вручения государственных наград РФ 21 May 2015 37.jpg|thumb|Zhirinovsky receiving the [[Order of Alexander Nevsky]] from Vladimir Putin in 2015]]

Besides expressing his concern for [[Turkish people|Turks]] and [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasians]] displacing the Russian population from their native territory,<ref name="big bad"/> Zhirinovsky also advocated for all [[Chinese people in Russia|Chinese]] and [[Japanese people in Russia|Japanese]] to be deported from the [[Russian Far East]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SX4B7pNG3W8C The Beast Reawakens] By Martin A. Lee Page 328</ref>  During his 1992 visit to the United States, Zhirinovsky called on television "for the preservation of the [[white people|white race]]" and warned that the white Americans were in danger of turning their country over to [[black people|black]] and [[Hispanic]] people.<ref name="joke">[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03EED6153EF935A35752C1A962958260 The World; Here Comes the Clown. No Joke.] ''[[The New York Times]]'', 6 November 1994</ref>

In 2004, Zhirinovsky spoke at the City Court of Saint Petersburg, in reference to the assassination of [[Galina Starovoytova]]. After accusing Starovoytova of having worked for foreign intelligence, he said "I have always said openly that for democrats of pro-Western orientation there are only three roads: prison, the grave, and emigration."<ref>{{ru icon}}[http://top.rbc.ru/politics/20/08/2015/55d5b36e9a7947ad179c701c  Три версии убийства Старовойтовой: какую роль в громком деле играла ЛДПР] RBC, 20 August 2015</ref>

In August 2016, Zhirinovsky prayed for the Republican [[United States presidential election, 2016|presidential election]] nominee, [[Donald Trump]], whose antics were similar to Zhirinovsky's but different in backgrounds, to defeat [[Hillary Clinton]], who he considered dangerous, in order to take his party's ideology global. He also expressed his desire to test his DNA to determine whether Trump and Zhirinovsky were related.<ref>{{cite news | title = Russian Maverick Prays for Trump Win to Cement New Global Order | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-03/russian-maverick-prays-for-trump-win-to-cement-new-global-order | date = 2016-08-03 | publisher = Bloomberg }}</ref> In April 2017, Zhirinovsky promised to drink the champagne for Donald Trump's [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]], saying: "A half of Americans voted for different foreign policies. Trump breaks his promises, and if he continues breaking them, his impeachment is inevitable."<ref>"[http://www.pravdareport.com/news/world/americas/12-04-2017/137468-zhirinovsky_trump-0/ Zhirinovsky to drink up for Donald Trump's impeachment]". [[Pravda.ru]]. 12 April 2017.</ref>

===''The Last Break Southward''===
''The Last Break Southward'' (1995) is the magnum opus of Zhirinovsky in which he expressed his worldview. "Since the 1980s, I have elaborated a geopolitical conception—the last break southward, Russia's reach to the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean." This is "really the solution for the salvation of the Russian nation … It solves all problems and we gain tranquility."<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'' [''The Last Break Southward''], Moscow, Foliant., p 41-42.</ref> Russia will rule the space "from Kabul to Istanbul."<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 43.</ref> The United States would feel safer with the Russian rule in the region, since wars there would cease under the Russian rule. Perhaps, some people in Kabul, Teheran, or Ankara would not like it but many people would feel better. "The Persians and Turks would suffer a bit but all the rest would gain."<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 44, 49.</ref> The "bells of the Orthodox Church must bell from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean." And Jerusalem becomes close. It is necessary that "the Christian world reunifies in Jerusalem." The Palestinian problem can be solved by partial transfer of the Palestinian population to the former territories of Turkey and Iran.<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 49-50.</ref> The great Russian language and Russian ruble would wield Near Eastern and Central Asian peoples into one Russian citizenship.<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 51.</ref>

Along the Russia southern sphere from India to Bosporus, other spheres of influence will stretch from north to south in the forthcoming world order, Latin America would be in the American sphere, Africa in the European sphere.<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 51-52.</ref> and Japan and China will rule Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia. Everywhere "the direction is the same—north-south."<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 51-52, 69.</ref> Geopolitically, it is logical. "Hence, the distribution along such a geopolitical formula would be very beneficent for the whole of humanity, and all over the planet would be established warm and clear political climate."<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 70.</ref>

"On this occasion, we need a man with at least planetary thinking," who would realize "the geopolitical formula, guaranteeing the interests of the majority on the planet … This is the fate of Russia. It is destination, fate … We must do it, for we have no choice … This is geopolitics."<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 155.</ref> We would do it, assured Zhirinovsky alluding to himself, by the efforts of an "honest, perseverant, patriotically inspired President."<ref>''Последний Бросок на Юг'', p 152, 159.</ref>

===Foreign relations and military excursions===
[[File:ААММ на митинге против Рамиля Сафарова..jpg|thumb|Protests against the extradition and pardon of [[Ramil Safarov]], Azerbaijani military officer, who murdered Armenian officer [[Gurgen Margaryan]] during a NATO Partnership for Peace program, 30 December 2012]]
Zhirinovsky is well known for his boasts pertaining to other countries, having expressed a desire to reunite countries of the ex-Soviet "[[near abroad]]" with Russia to within the Russia's borders of 1900 (including [[Finland]] and [[Poland]]). He has advocated forcibly retaking [[Alaska]] from the United States (which would then become "a great place to put the [[Ukrainians]]"), turning [[Kazakhstan]] into "Russia's back yard", and provoking wars between the clans and the nations of the former Soviet Union and occupying what will remain of it when the wars are over.<ref name="threats">[http://www.acs.brockport.edu/~dgusev/Russian/vzbio.html Vladimir Zhirinovsky]{{dead link|date=April 2016}} Information Technology Services at SUNY Brockport</ref> Zhirinovsky, who encourages [[separatism]] within the Russian [[minority group|minority]] in the Baltic countries,<ref name="nuclear" /> endorsed the forcible re-occupation of these countries and said [[nuclear waste]] should be dumped there.<ref name="threats"/><ref>[http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/18220/ Russia threatens Baltic missile build-up], ''The Baltic Times'', 5 July 2007</ref>

Zhirinovsky supports Israel-Russia relations, but says that Israel has to make Russian its official language. He also believes that Israel has to pay more attention to the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref>[http://9tv.co.il/news/2014/10/26/188316.html Zhirinovsky: "If Israel went under the Soviet Union, Gaza would be yours] 26.10.2014 17:44, Channel 9, Israel</ref> He believes that Russians are endangered in Israel and should come under the protection of the Russian police.<ref>[http://cursorinfo.co.il/news/novosti1/2016/01/21/zhirinovskiy-hochet-priezzhat-v-izrail-pod-ohranoy-rossiyskoy-policii Zhirinovsky wants Israel to come under the Russian police guard] January 21, 2016, 14:59, Cursorinfo</ref>

In 1999, at the start of the [[Second Chechen War]], Zhirinovsky, an ardent supporter of [[First Chechen War|the first war in Chechnya]] in the mid-1990s, advocated hitting some [[Chechnya|Chechen]] villages with [[tactical nuclear weapon]]s.<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/specials/russianelection/archives/07-171299.asp Russian Parliamentary Election 1999] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214043842/http://www.rferl.org/specials/russianelection/archives/07-171299.asp |date=14 February 2008 }}, [[RFE/RL]], 17 December 1999</ref> He has also advocated using [[nuclear weapons]] and naval [[blockade]]-imposed starvation in the event of a Russian war against Japan.<ref name="threats"/> In 2008, during the resulting political row between the United Kingdom and Russia, he suggested dropping nuclear bombs over the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to flood Britain.<ref name="nuclear"/>

Zhirinovsky hailed what he described as "the democratic process" in [[Iraq under Saddam Hussein]], whom he supported strongly. The friendship dated from at least the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]] in 1991, during which time Zhirinovsky sent several armed volunteers from the "Falcons of Zhirinovsky" group to support the Iraqi president. Allegations have dogged Zhirinovsky closely since [[2003 invasion of Baghdad|the fall of Baghdad]] that he personally profited from illicit oil sales as part of the [[Oil-for-Food Programme|Oil-for Food scandal]], a charge investigated in 2005 by the Independent Inquiry Committee into the Oil-for-Food Programme ([[Paul Volcker|Volcker]] Commission) and the [[United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations|US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations]] (PSI).<ref>{{cite web|title=OIL FOR INFLUENCE: HOW SADDAM USED OIL TO REWARD POLITICIANS UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM|url=http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/pdf/109hrg/21438.pdf|work=PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE|publisher=U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE}}</ref> He is also close to the [[Serbia]]n nationalist leader and [[war crime]]s suspect [[Vojislav Šešelj]].<ref name="threats"/>

Zhirinovsky said he is dreaming of the day "when Russian soldiers can wash their boots in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and switch to year-round summer uniforms"<ref name="boots">[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/08/1070732141347.html Ultra-right gains in poll] ''[[The Age]]'', 9 December 2003</ref> following Russia's conquest of [[Afghanistan]], Iran and [[Turkey]] and occupation of the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Mediterranean]].<ref name="big bad">[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n4_v10/ai_14800970 Zhirinovsky is Russia's big bad wolf – success of Vladimir Wolfovich Zhirinovsky in recent Russian elections – Column]. Findarticles.com (24 January 1994).</ref> He also declared that [[Bulgaria]] should [[annexation|annex]] the [[Republic of Macedonia]], and said that [[Romania]] is an artificial state supposedly created by Italian [[Romani people|Gypsies]] who seized territory from Russia, Bulgaria and [[Hungary]].<ref name="hello"/>

Russia’s southern neighbor [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] has been another frequent target of Zhirinovsky’s rhetoric. After [[Aslan Abashidze]] was [[2004 Adjara crisis|ousted from power in 2004]] as leader of [[Adjara|Ajara]], an autonomous Georgian region, Zhirinovsky worried that similar revolutions would occur in [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]].<ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/5516-0/ Vladimir Zhirinovsky: Georgia brings trouble to Russia.], [[Pravda.ru]], 10 May 2004.</ref> Highly critical of Georgia’s pro-Western line,<ref>Teresa Whitfield (2007), Friends Indeed?: The United Nations, Groups of Friends, and the Resolution of Conflict, p. 155. US Institute of Peace Press, ISBN 1-60127-005-4</ref> he is an energetic supporter of Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia; in a high-profile incident in August 2004, he departed on a campaign to promote a tourist season in Abkhazia aboard a [[cruise ship]] which was briefly intercepted by a Georgian [[coast guard]] vessel.<ref>Inal Khashig (19 August 2004) [http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=159919&apc_state=henicrs2004 Abkhazia Revels in Nationalist’s Visit.] [[Institute for War and Peace Reporting]] Caucasus Reporting Service No. 247.</ref> After [[2008 South Ossetia war|war broke out between Russia and Georgia in 2008]], Zhirinovsky argued in favor of Russian recognition of Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence. "We should have taken the whole territory of Georgia under control," he complained, and "arrested all Georgian officers and taken them here, like to Guantanamo, arrested [[Mikheil Saakashvili|Saakashvili]] and handed him over for trial by a military tribunal and gone to the border with Turkey."<ref>[http://www.kommersant.com/p1016521/Russia_Georgia_South_Ossetia_conflict/ Duma and Fed. Council for Secession], Kommersant, 26 August 2008.</ref> In 2009, he called the decision to hold [[NATO]] [[Cooperative 09|military exercises in Georgia]] during [[Victory Day (9 May)|Soviet Victory Day]] celebrations in Moscow a "total revision of the history of the Great Patriotic War" and suggested that Russia should respond by conducting large-scale joint military drills with [[Cuba]] and [[Venezuela]] in the [[Caribbean Sea]].<ref>[http://en.rian.ru/world/20090506/121459125.html Russian MP proposes Caribbean drill response to NATO exercises], RIA Novosti, 6 May 2009.</ref>
[[File:2008-07-18 Владимир Путин, Владимир Жириновский.jpeg|thumb|Zhirinovsky with Putin in 2008]]

Zhirinovsky has been expelled from Bulgaria for insulting its president and was barred from entry to Germany.<ref name="eccentric" /> In 2005, Kazakhstan declared Zhirinovsky ''[[persona non grata]]'' on the territory of his historical homeland, due to the politician's controversial speech about the change of the Russia-Kazakhstan border, in which he questioned the [[Kazakhs]]' place in history.<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://lenta.ru/russia/2005/02/10/zhirinovsky1/ Жириновскому запретили приезжать на историческую родину] from [[Lenta.ru]]</ref>

In 2006, Zhirinovsky became ''persona non grata'' also in [[Ukraine]], following his statements regarding the January 2006 [[Russia-Ukraine gas dispute]] (this ban was revoked in 2007). In reaction to [[Condoleezza Rice]]'s criticism of [[Foreign relations of Russia|Russian foreign policy]] during the dispute, Zhirinovsky stated that "Condoleezza Rice needs a company of soldiers [and] needs to be taken to [[barracks]] where she would be satisfied."<ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/11-01-2006/9488-condoleezza-0/ Condoleezza Rice's anti-Russian stance based on sexual problems], ''[[Pravda]]'', 11 January 2006</ref> At the premiere of the film ''[[Taras Bulba (2009 film)|Taras Bulba]]'' in 2009 he stated: “Everyone who sees the film will understand that Russians and Ukrainians are one people – and that the enemy is from the West".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/europe/13cossacks.html?_r=1&ref=global-home |title=A Wild Cossack Rides Into a Cultural Battle | publisher=[[Kyiv Post]]  |date=12 April 2009 |accessdate=14 April 2009 |last=Barry |first=Ellen }}</ref> In February 2010 Zhirinovsky claimed that [[Eastern Ukraine]] would become part of Russia “in five years" claiming that "the population is largely Russian” and called [[President of Ukraine|President-elect of Ukraine]] [[Viktor Yanukovych]] “basically Russian” (Yanukovych's father was an ethnic Polish-Belarusian, and his mother Russian).

On the November 2006 death by poisoning of Russian [[defection|defector]] [[Alexander Litvinenko]] in London, Zhirinovsky said: "Any traitor must be eliminated using any methods. If you have joined the special services to work, then you should work, but to betray, to run away abroad, to give up the secrets you learned while working – all of this looks bad."<ref name="www.ebru.tv">[http://www.ebru.tv/en/News/a.503.html Former KGB Agent Dies] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.is/20071102063249/http://www.ebru.tv/en/News/a.503.html |date=2 November 2007 }} [[Associated Press]], 24 November 2006</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061206141152/http://www.ctv.ca:80/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061124/spy_kremlin_061125/20061126?hub=TopStories Dead ex-spy claimed Russian agent monitored him]  [[CTV Television Network|CTV]], 25 November 2006</ref> [[Sergei Abeltsev]], Zhirinovsky's former [[bodyguard]] and [[State Duma]] member from the LDPR, added: "The deserved punishment reached the traitor. I am sure his terrible death will be a warning to all the traitors that in Russia the treason is not to be forgiven. I would recommend to citizen [[Boris Berezovsky (businessman)|Berezovsky]] to avoid any food at the commemoration for his crime accomplice Litvinenko."<ref name=Abeltsev>{{cite web | title = Address to Duma by Sergei Abeltsev | publisher = [[Duma]]  | date = 25 November 2006  | url =http://wbase.duma.gov.ru/steno/nph-sdb.exe?B0CW%5bF11&24.11.2006&F11&&F11&&F258&^&%5dH2512  | accessdate =20 November 2007 |language=ru}}{{dead link|date=April 2016}}</ref> In the [[Russian legislative election, 2007|2007 election]], political patronage from Zhirinovsky enabled Litvinenko murder suspect [[Andrei Lugovoi]] to win election to the Russian parliament and thus obtain formal [[parliamentary immunity]].<ref name="clown">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7252639.stm Interview with Lugovoi], [[BBC]] Hard Talk, 19 February 2008</ref> He also accused Great Britain (according to him, "the most [[barbarian|barbaric]] country on the planet") of fomenting [[World War I]], the [[October Revolution]], World War II, and the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].<ref>[http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?story_id=24823&action_id=2 Zhirinovsky Engages in Street Theater] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329003048/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?story_id=24823&action_id=2 |date=29 March 2008 }}, ''[[The St. Petersburg Times]]'', 25 January 2008</ref>

Writing about [[Marine Le Pen]] he said that she could outdo her father because "Instead of saying that Islam is terrorism, she simply insists that France is a secular nation that will not stand for hundreds of thousands of Muslims practicing their religious traditions. With this argument, Marine has cleverly defended the French people's right to a secular nation." In that vein he said that she has the "chance to represent the French majority."<ref>Volfovich, Vladimir. (21 April 2011) [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066369_2066134,00.html #ixzz1SZxuRVNL]. Time.com.</ref>

In 2013, when asked about former Ukrainian prime minister [[Yulia Tymoshenko]], he said, "Yulia Tymoshenko, I'm sorry, is a woman. I don't like them, as it's easier to persuade a woman. [...] Women are more compliant, and it's dangerous."<ref>{{cite news|last=Interfax-Ukraine|title=Zhirinovsky about Tymoshenko: 'Women can't be in power'|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/zhirinovsky-about-tymoshenko-women-cant-be-in-power-319458.html|accessdate=28 June 2013|newspaper=KyivPost|date=28 January 2013}}</ref>

==Controversies==

===Violent controversies===
Zhirinovsky also has a history of igniting personal violence in political contexts. In his notorious debate with [[Boris Nemtsov]] in 1995 a "juice fight" broke out.<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://www.vesti.ru/news.html?id=34546 Жириновский снова брызнул соком] from Vesti.ru</ref> In 2003, Zhirinovsky engaged in a fistfight after a television debate with [[Mikhail Delyagin]].<ref>[http://www.eng.yabloko.ru/Publ/2003/PAPERS/11/031124_mt.html Zhirinovsky Gets Into Fistfight After Televised Election Debate], ''[[The Moscow Times]]'', 24 November 2003 (mirrored by yabloko.ru)</ref> In 2005, Zhirinovsky ignited a brawl in the parliament by spitting at a [[Rodina (political party)|Rodina]] party legislator, [[Andrei Saveliyev]].<ref>[http://newsfromrussia.com/main/2005/03/30/58932.html Flamboyant Russian lawmaker in parliament chamber brawl] News from Russia</ref> In 2008, he showed himself shooting a rifle at the targets representing his political rivals.<ref name="nuclear" /> During the 2008 televised presidential debate, he threatened Nikolai Gotsa, the representative of [[Democratic Party of Russia]] candidate [[Andrei Vladimirovich Bogdanov|Andrei Bogdanov]] with violence, saying he's going to "smash his head" and ordering his bodyguard to "shoot that bastard over there in the corridor". Gotsa sued Zhirinovsky in civil court for 1 million rubles (approximately US$38,000) in damages and eventually received a judgment of 30,000 rubles (approximately US$1,150).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?docsid=1033615 |title=Vladimir Zhirinovsky chose 30,000 rubles' worth of expressions|date=30 September 2008 |publisher=[[Kommersant]] |accessdate=3 October 2008}}</ref> In April 2014, Zhirinovsky made strong verbal threats against a pregnant journalist during a press conference in the Duma, including ordering his aide to rape the journalist, who had asked Zhirinovsky about possible sanctions against Ukraine amidst the [[2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine|military tensions]] between the two countries. The ethics committee of the Duma will investigate the incident.<ref>{{cite news|title=Russia: Politician’s extraordinary tirade at pregnant journalist|url=http://www.euronews.com/2014/04/19/russia-parliament-s-deputy-speaker-zhirinovsky-s-extraordinary-tirade-at-/|accessdate=20 April 2014|newspaper=Euronews|date=19 April 2014}}</ref>

===Donkey video for 2012 presidential election===
{{main|Vladimir Zhirinovsky's donkey video}}
On 6 February 2012, Zhirinovsky released a 30-second election video on the Internet that featured him on a sleigh which was harnessed with a black donkey, which represents the country. The video was widely discussed on the Internet,<ref name=RIAN-20120207>[http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120207/171195718.html ''Zhirinovsky Explains why He Swatted Ass''] [[RIAN]] 7 February 2012</ref> and received mostly negative reactions from Russian users.<ref name=profi-forex>{{cite web|last=Шалимова|first=Мария|script-title=ru:В сети представлен ролик "Жириновский и будет лучше!"|language=Russian|trans_title="Zhirinovsky And It Will Get Better" advertisement appears on the web|url=http://www.profi-forex.org/news/entry1008104857.html|publisher=profi-forex.org|accessdate=5 April 2012}}</ref> International organizations [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]] (PETA) and [[World Society for the Protection of Animals]] (Now known as [[World Animal Protection]]), as well as Russian animal rights activists, have accused Zhirinovsky of [[cruelty to animals]]. Zhirinovsky responded to criticism, saying that similar treatment is commonplace in the [[Arab world]] and that in fact the animal been treated "better than many people".<ref name=nr2-20120208>{{cite web|url=http://www.nr2.ru/election/371706.html|language=Russian|title=WSPA и PETA обвинили Жириновского в жестоком обращении с ослом|trans_title==WSPA and PETA accused Zhirinovsky in crueltu to the donkey|publisher=nr2.ru}}</ref>

===Other controversies===
He proposed setting up large fans on the borders to blow airborne radioactive waste into the Baltic states.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vladimir-Zhirinovsky |title= |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= |website= |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>

To eradicate [[Influenzavirus A|bird flu]], he proposed arming all of Russia's population and ordering them and the troops to shoot down the migrant birds returning to Russia from [[wintering]].<ref>[http://news.rin.ru/eng/news///6243/ Action for protection of birds from Zhirinovsky to be held in Moscow]. News.rin.ru.</ref>

He also threatened to remove restrictions on arms sales to [[Iran]] and proposed to sell the disputed [[Kurile Islands]] to Japan for 50 billion USD.<ref name="eccentric">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/667745.stm Zhirinovsky: Russia's political eccentric], [[BBC News]], 10 March 2000</ref>

In 2003 the video <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfAsn1rLKVE]</ref> drunk Zhirinovsky was making inadequate threats to [[George Bush Jr.]] in offensive language. He called America a “second-hand goods store” filled with “cocksuckers, handjobbers, and faggots,” and claimed that Russian scientists are able to change the gravitational field of the Earth and sink the entire country.<ref name="vice2013"/> In the video [[Bill Clinton]], [[Monica Lewinsky]] and [[Condoleezza Rice]] are also mentioned. Zhirinovsky calls Condoleezza Rice: “a black whore who needs a good cock. Send her here, one of our divisions will make her happy in the barracks one night. She will choke on Russian sperm as it will be leaking out of her ears... until she crawls to the US embassy in Moscow on her knees.”<ref name="vice2013">{{cite web|last1=Bruk|first1=Diana|title=The Best of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the Clown Prince of Russian Politics|url=http://www.vice.com/read/the-best-of-vladimir-zhirinovsky-russias-craziest-politician|publisher=Vice|date=August 10, 2013}}</ref>

In the wake of the February 2013 [[Chelyabinsk meteor]], Zhirinovsky was quoted by the [[Russian International News Agency]] as claiming “It’s not meteors falling, it’s the test of a new weapon by the [[United States|Americans]].”<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuzmin|first=Andrey|title=Russia cleans up after meteor blast injures more than 1,000|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/16/us-russia-meteorite-idUSBRE91E05Z20130216|work=Reuters|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=28 June 2013|date=16 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=US tested new weapon, no meteor in Chelyabinsk – Russian LibDem leader|url=http://rt.com/politics/zhirinovsky-meteorite-american-weapon-316/|publisher=[[Russian International News Agency]]|accessdate=15 February 2013}}</ref> At the same time, he derided the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] for anarchism, having scientists that are so old that their brains and reproductive organs don't work any longer, and told the "elders" to go home and collect their pensions.<ref>{{cite | title = Reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences | author = Fiona Clark | url = http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62142-X/fulltext?rss=yes | date = 2013-10-24 | publisher = The Lancet}}</ref>

On 4 April 2014, in the wake of the [[2014 Crimean crisis]], the franchises of the fast-food restaurant [[McDonald's]] were unable to continue because they had been cut off by their [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] franchisor.  Zhirinovsky suggested that McDonald's "should be evicted from Russia" for the affront.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10744828/McDonalds-should-be-evicted-from-Russia-after-Crimea-shutdown.html|title=McDonald's 'should be evicted from Russia' after Crimea shutdown|date=4 April 2014|work=Telegraph.co.uk|accessdate=8 May 2016}}</ref>

At a press conference in April, when asked whether Russians should reciprocate the Ukrainian sex strike,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dolgova|first1=Anna|title=Ukraine Sex Strike Against Russian Men Gaining Strength|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/ukraine-sex-strike-against-russian-men-gaining-strength/496883.html|accessdate=24 August 2014|agency=The Moscow Times}}</ref> he replied that all Ukrainian women were "nymphomaniacs" like the journalist who had asked the question, Stella Dubovitskaya.<ref name="huffingtonpost.co.uk">{{cite news|title=Russian Politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky Orders Aides To 'Violently Rape' Pregnant Reporter Stella Dubovitskaya|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/04/21/russia-rape-reporter_n_5184299.html|accessdate=24 August 2014|agency=Huffington Post}}</ref> He then ordered two of his aides to "violently rape" the pregnant journalist for [[Rossiya Segodnya]], who had to be briefly hospitalised for shock.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Boggioni|first1=Tom|title=Russian politician orders aides to ‘violently rape’ pregnant journalist at press conference|url=http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/20/russian-politician-orders-aides-to-violently-rape-pregnant-journalist-at-press-conference/|accessdate=24 August 2014|agency=Raw Story}}</ref> He later apologised with "I spoke a bit rudely when I replied to a young woman".<ref name="huffingtonpost.co.uk"/>

On 25 July 2014, amidst [[2014 insurgency in Donbass|an armed insurgency in Eastern Ukraine]],<ref name="Ukraine crisis timeline BBC">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275|title=Ukraine crisis: Timeline|work=BBC News|accessdate=8 May 2016}}</ref> the [[Ukrainian Interior Ministry]] launched criminal proceedings against Zhirinovsky and [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] leader [[Gennady Zyuganov]] for "financing actions aimed at changing the boundaries of the territory and the state border of [[Ukraine]]".<ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/215454.html Ukraine opens criminal cases against Zyuganov and Zhirinovsky for funding separatism], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (25 July 2014)</ref>

On 10 August 2014, Zhirinovsky threatened Poland and the Baltic states with carpet bombing, dooming and wiping out all of them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-this-week-roots-of-pro-russian-separatists-in-russian-ultranationalist-groups/|title=Russia This Week: Zhirinovsky Threatens to ‘Wipe Out’ Poland, Baltics (4-10 August)|publisher=|accessdate=8 May 2016}}</ref>
<blockquote>"What will remain of the Baltics? Nothing will remain of them. NATO airplanes are stationed there. There's an anti-missile defense system. In Poland -- the Baltics -- they are on the whole doomed. They'll be wiped out. 
There will be nothing left. Let them re-think this, these leaders of these little dwarf states. How they are leaving themselves vulnerable.
Nothing threatens America, it's far away. But Eastern Europe countries will place themselves under the threat of total annihilation. Only they themselves will be to blame. Because we cannot allow missiles and planes to be aimed at Russia from their territories. We have to destroy them half an hour before they launch. And then we have to do carpet bombing so that not a single launch pad remains or even one plane. So -- no Baltics, no Poland. Let NATO immediately ask for negotiations with our Foreign Ministry. Then we'll stop. Otherwise well have to teach them the lessons of May 1945."</blockquote>

On 23 August 2014, he voiced the opinion that Russia ought to abolish political parties in favour of an autocratic system in which the leader would be chosen by the "five to six thousand wisest people" in the country. He also proposed returning to the Imperial flag and [[God Save the Tsar!|anthem]]. Putin rejected this proposal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Żyrinowski: Rosja powinna być monarchią, a Putin imperatorem|url=http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/swiat/artykuly/467807,zyrinowski-rosja-powinna-byc-monarchia-a-putin-imperatorem.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20Dziennik-PL%20(RSS%20-%20Dziennik)|accessdate=24 August 2014|agency=dziennik.pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Władimir Żyrinowski: Rosja powinna być monarchią|url=http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1356,title,Wladimir-Zyrinowski-Rosja-powinna-byc-monarchia,wid,16833547,wiadomosc.html|accessdate=24 August 2014|agency=wiadomosci.wp.p}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rosja powinna być monarchią, a Putin imperatorem|url=http://www.wprost.pl/ar/464562/Rosja-powinna-byc-monarchia-a-Putin-imperatorem/|accessdate=24 August 2014|agency=wprost}}</ref>

In the same year, he threatened Washington with a Russian attack while giving a speech to listeners.<ref name="The Daily Beast"/>

In February 2015, he suggested to "burn all Paris" and "sturm Berlin" during a speech at the Duma.<ref>{{cite av media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsLBDF-cqnQ|title=Zhirinovsky spoke for complete destruction of Germany and arson of Paris|date=12 February 2015|publisher=|accessdate=8 May 2016|via=YouTube}}</ref>

In May 2015 he stated that former President of Georgia, and then governor of [[Odessa]], Ukraine, [[Mikheil Saakashvili]], should be killed. "We will shoot all of your governors, starting with Saakashvili, then they'll be afraid. And there will be a different situation in Europe and Ukraine. [...] Let's aim at Berlin, Brussels, London, and Washington." He then said Ukrainian political prisoner [[Nadiya Savchenko]] should be shot and hung in [[Belgrade]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uatoday.tv/politics/russian-nationalist-politician-threatens-to-kill-ukrainian-pilot-nadiya-savchenko-433026.html|title=Russian nationalist politician threatens to kill Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko|work=uatoday.tv|accessdate=8 May 2016}}</ref>

In November 2015, after the incident of a Russian jet plane being shot down by a Turkish F-16 after an air-space violation, he stated in a speech to the Duma that Russia must detonate a nuclear bomb on the Bosphorus to create a 10 meters high tsunami wave that would wipe out at least 9 million Istanbul residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntv.com.tr/dunya/rusyanin-liberal-demokrat-partisi-lideri-bogazi-bombalayalim,snU7Bpn5SUi6Onia8eIYyA|title=Dünya Haberleri ve Dünya Gündemindeki En Son Gelişmeler - NTV|publisher=|accessdate=8 May 2016}}</ref>

In September 2016, inspired by [[Donald Trump]]'s signature proposal, he proposed building a [[border wall]] and banning Muslims from entering Russia.<ref name="The Daily Beast">{{cite news | title = Russia’s Trump, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Wants to Build a Wall, Ban Muslims, and Nuke the White House | author = Anna Nemtsova | url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/07/russia-s-trump-vladimir-zhirinovsky-wants-to-build-a-wall-ban-muslims-and-nuke-the-white-house.html | date = 2016-09-07 | publisher = The Daily Beast}}</ref>

In October 12, 2016, Zhirinovsky warned on Reuters that a vote for Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election is a vote for the eruption of [[World War III|a third World War]], leading to Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere. He also noted that, on the contrary, Trump wouldn't care about US interventions in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Ukraine, and thus offering peace.<ref name="Reuters Oct12">{{cite news | title = Putin ally tells Americans: vote Trump or face nuclear war | url = http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-russian-trump-idUSKCN12C28Q | date = Oct 12, 2016 | author = Andrew Osborn  | publisher = [[Reuters]] | accessdate = 2016-10-15 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Aleksandr Dugin]]
*[[Russian nationalism]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{ru icon}} [http://www.ldpr.ru/ Liberal Democratic Party of Russia website]
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/ZAHINHO/videos Zhirinovsky videos with English subtitles]
*[http://www.sras.org/the_world_according_to_zhirinovsky Zhirinovsky's 2007 political manifesto (in Russian and English)]
*{{C-SPAN|vladimirzhirinovsky}}
*{{Worldcat id|lccn-nr92-42550}}
*{{NYTtopic|people/z/vladimir_v_zhirinovsky}}
*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979934-1,00.html Hello, I Must Be Going], ''[[Time Magazine|TIME]]'', 10 January 1994
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/667745.stm Zhirinovsky: Russia's political eccentric], [[BBC News]], 10 March 2000
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080216235712/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/10/bloomberg/name.php The trademark Zhirinovsky is up for grabs in Russia], ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'', 10 July 2007
*[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,538403,00.html ZHIRINOVSKY'S FOLLIES: Nuclear Threats and Busty Ladies in the Race for Second-Place in Russia], ''[[Der Spiegel]]'',  28 February 2008
*[http://www.besttopnews.com/idols/scandals/07-07-2006/26197-berk-0/  Zhirinovsky backed "Julia-2". Elena Berkova ready]

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{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Party created}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia|LDPR]] leader|years=1989–present}}
{{s-aft|after=Incumbent}}
{{s-bef|before=Party created<br /> New title}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia|LDPR]] presidential candidate|years=[[Russian presidential election, 1991|1991]], [[Russian presidential election, 1996|1996]], [[Russian presidential election, 2000|2000]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Oleg Malyshkin]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Oleg Malyshkin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia|LDPR]] presidential candidate|years=[[Russian presidential election, 2008|2008]], [[Russian presidential election, 2012|2012]]}}
{{s-aft|after=Last election}}
{{s-end}}

{{commons category|Vladimir Zhirinovsky}}
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{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 1991}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 1996}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 2000}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 2008}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 2012}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhirinovsky, Vladimir}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Almaty]]
[[Category:Russian nationalists]]
[[Category:Critics of Islam]]
[[Category:Far-right politics in Russia]]
[[Category:Liberal Democratic Party of Russia politicians]]
[[Category:People of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt]]
[[Category:Members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Moscow State University alumni]]
[[Category:Political controversies in Russia]]
[[Category:Candidates for President of Russia]]
[[Category:Russian anti-communists]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class]]
[[Category:Russian people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:21st-century Russian politicians]]