Ukraine puts deceased Russian firebrand Zhirinovsky on trial
A Ukrainian court has moved to prosecute late Russian politician and nationalist firebrand, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who died three years ago, local media has reported.
The case, centered on allegations of financing terrorism, is set to be heard on Friday by the Shevchenko district court in Kiev, according to the Strana outlet on Tuesday.
Zhirinovsky, who died from Covid-19 in April 2022, was charged along with other leading members of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR); Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov and State Duma lawmaker Aleksey Didenko.
Ukrainian prosecutors claimed in 2017 that LDPR figures provided material support to the Donetsk People’s Republic – a breakaway part of Ukraine at the time. The region, along with four others, later voted to join Russia. Kiev and its Western backers contest whether the referendums represented legitimate acts of self-determination.
Zhirinovsky dismissed the Ukrainian allegations as “idiotic” and said the prosecutors who issued them should be fired. He added that the LDPR’s fundraising was humanitarian and had nothing to do with terrorism.
Renowned for his often provocative political style, Zhirinovsky frequently sparked controversy. He also gained a reputation for making accurate predictions that appeared outlandish at the time. In 2004, he said the next US president would be black – four years before Barack Obama was elected. As early as 2008, he predicted the total deterioration of Russia’s relationship with the West and increasingly close partnership with China.
Following his death, the LDPR developed a virtual assistant powered by AI, designed to mimic Zhirinovsky’s bombastic oratory style. The bot can respond to political questions in his voice, modeled on the politician’s archived writing and speeches.
