The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, has died in Russia. He was 75 years old.
The politicianʼs death was announced by the speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Volodin.
On February 2, Zhirinovsky was hospitalized with the "Omicron" coronavirus. The media reported that more than 50% of lung damage and that the politician was connected to a ventilator.
In December 2021, Zhirinovsky said on Komsomolskaya Pravda radio [Russian broadcaster] that he had received eight vaccinations against coronavirus. "I am not happy. Here I made eight injections and did not get sick, and if I did four, then maybe I would be affected somewhere", he said. The politician then suggested that he could be the only one who had done so many vaccinations in a year and a half.
The politician was known for his eccentric behavior and statements. For example, in February 2014, while in Simferopol and Sevastopol, the politician actively called on the residents of the peninsula and local officials to separatism, and in March of that year, he voted for the law on the accession of Crimea to Russia. In March 2014, after the occupation of Crimea, Zhirinovsky sent a proposal to the governments of Poland, Hungary, and Romania to divide Ukraine.
- In 2018, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office of Ukraine established the involvement of Russiaʼs top leadership in supporting the terrorist organizations "Luhansk and Donetsk Peopleʼs Republics". Among the was accused Zhirinovsky, who was collecting money for militants in the Donbas. The politician himself called it "humanitarian aid". In 2019, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office of Ukraine suspected Zhirinovsky of encroaching on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.