Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Zhirinovsky's voice Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. recorded May 2013 Problems playing this file? See media help. Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (Russian: Влади мир Во льфович Жирино вский), born Vladimir Volfovich Eidelstein (Russian: Влади мир Во льфович Эйдельште йн) on 25 April 1946, is a Russian politician and political activist. He is a colonel in the Russian Army, founder and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and was twice, in 2000 and in 2004, elected deputy speaker of the Duma. Zhirinovsky is often viewed as "a showman of Russian politics, blending populist and nationalist rhetoric, anti-Western invective and a brash, confrontational style". 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."