Putin attends memorial for Russian far-right politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky скачать в хорошем качестве

Putin attends memorial for Russian far-right politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (April 8) attended a memorial ceremony for Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the far-right Liberal and Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). Putin laid flowers at Zhirinovsky's open coffin placed in the House of Unions building located close to the Russian parliament in central Moscow. Zhirinovsky, 75, was known for provocative stunts and anti-Western tirades that kept him in the public eye for more than three decades, died on April 6 after a long illness. He was admitted to hospital earlier this year after contracting COVID-19, according to Russian media. Zhirinovsky was known for outrageous and headline-grabbing statements, including threats to launch nuclear weapons against various countries, seize Alaska from the United States, and expand Russia's frontiers to the point where its soldiers could "wash their boots in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean." The LDPR, whose name belied its xenophobic views, became part of the so-called "systemic opposition" to Putin. Ostensibly it provided political competition; in practice it backed him when it mattered, for instance over the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.